Rebel Editor July 17, 2023

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Reported back in 2021 as becoming a production reality the following the year, which subsequently never materialised, a single low-resolution image has been uncovered showing what it is believed to be a patent submission of the all-new third generation Toyota Fortuner.

First look

It’s apparent uncovering seemingly ending two years of speculative reports about of its time of reveal, the depiction, posted by India’s gaadiwaadi.com, shows the Fortuner, known in South America as the SW4, sporting a more rounded design similar to that of the previous generation Ford Everest.

The model that also previews the next generation Hilux due in 2025, the frontal styling borrows heavily from the Corolla Cross, while also incorporating cues from the new Tacoma and Sequoia.

ALSO READ: All-new Toyota Fortuner could become a reality in 2023

Down the side, a noticeable upwards moving shoulder line has been integrated underneath the C-pillar together with the pillar itself being blacked-out as a means of adhering to the floating roof design concept.

Despite no images of the rear being disclosed, a brief sighting of the taillight clusters indicates a pattern similar to that of the current Fortuner, although expectations are the facia itself will be significantly different from the current model Toyota last updated in 2020, five years after its original world debut.

A mystery for now is the interior, which too is expected to be radically different in look and design from the current Fortuner that, in mentioned updated form, arrived in South Africa in February this year.

New platform and hybrid diesel

As has been widely reported, the Fortuner will join the Tacoma, Sequoia, Tundra, Land Cruiser 300 and Lexus LX in moving to the body-on-frame TNGA-F platform also destined for the Hilux, North American 4Runner and the incoming all-new Land Cruiser Prado.

On the power front, the only confirmed certainty, first mentioned as a rumour in 2021, is the presence of a diesel/electric powertrain underneath the bonnet in the guise of a mild-hybrid 2.8 GD-6 turbodiesel engine.

Officially approved by Toyota in May this year, and showed in a prototype Hilux at last month’s Safari Rally in Kenya, the 48-volt system will solely be available on models fitted with the six-speed automatic gearbox, although it remains unknown as to whether this could result in a slight power uptake from the standard 150kW/500Nm.

With Toyota’s focus on having all of its vehicles at least hybridised by 2025, the diesel could potentially be joined by further hybrid offerings consisting of the well-known 2.5-litre petrol and possibly even the turbocharged 2.4-litre i-Force Max that powers the Tacoma and Lexus RX.

A powered-up replacement for the GR Sport, not available in South Africa, it also likely to happen, however, nothing at present suggests so.

Countdown

For now, little else is known and while Toyota hasn’t spoken out on the leaked image, chances are it will start divulging information soon ahead of removing the wraps officially later this year.

NOW READ: All-new Toyota Fortuner coming in 2022 with hybrid assistance



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