23 hours ago
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The SUV sibling to the popular Toyota HiLux may be on the chopping block here, but there's a new-but-not-all-new model headed to overseas showrooms.
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The Toyota Fortuner four-wheel-drive will live on outside of Australia with a heavy facelift – akin to the related HiLux ute – later this year.
The Japanese car giant will pull the pin on its Ford Everest and Isuzu MU-X rival in Australia from mid-2026, amid slow sales and a focus on the more popular LandCruiser Prado SUV and HiLux dual-cab.
Overseas, however, the Fortuner name will continue into a 'new generation' that, like its platform-mate, will be a major update to the current model dating back to 2015, wearing new front and rear-end styling.
Images posted to Instagram by Kurdistan Automotive Blog show that, as with the change from old to new HiLux, the 'new' Fortuner will retain the current model's mid-section, including its cabin shape, doors, and glass.
New is a restyled front fascia reminiscent of the 2026 HiLux, with a similar honeycomb grille and slimmer, high-mounted LED headlights, while there appears to be a full-width LED tail-light bar at the rear.
If its ute sibling is a guide, expect a new dashboard with twin 12.3-inch screens, Prado-inspired switchgear and steering wheel, new seats, and modern amenities such as a wireless charger and heated steering wheel.
The unchanged footprint is unlikely to see a meaningful increase in passenger or boot space.
It is unclear if Toyota will redesign the current Fortuner's maligned third-row seats, which fold up and sideways against the rear windows, rather than into the floor.
Also likely to mirror the HiLux is the engine, an unchanged 150kW/500Nm 2.8-litre turbo-diesel four-cylinder matched with a six-speed automatic transmission and mild-hybrid technology.
Irrespective of the changes, Australian customers will not have access to the 'new' Fortuner, due in overseas showrooms later in 2026.
"Fortuner has been a great product for us over the years and found a relatively small but enthusiastic customer base," Toyota Australia's then-boss of sales and marketing, Sean Hanley, told local media last year.
"But with production ending next year, and customer preferences shifting in Australia, we made the decision to discontinue the Fortuner."
Hanley said the Fortuner was "a success in what we wanted it to do," but that the "expansion of the HiLux range and rationalisation of the product offering" has squeezed it out.
"Largely they [customers] are moving back into HiLux, or they're moving into SUV [other Toyota models], so that's where it's moving. SUV, that's where the customers are moving," said the executive.
Toyota reported 3407 Fortuner sales locally last year, compared to 26,106 Prados, 26,161 Ford Everests, and 15,458 Isuzu MU-Xs.
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Alex Misoyannis has been writing about cars since 2017, when he started his own website, Redline. He contributed for Drive in 2018, before joining CarAdvice in 2019, becoming a regular contributing journalist within the news team in 2020. Cars have played a central role throughout Alex’s life, from flicking through car magazines at a young age, to growing up around performance vehicles in a car-loving family. Highly Commended - Young Writer of the Year 2024 (Under 30) Rising Star Journalist, 2024 Winner Scoop of The Year - 2024 Winner
