The Toyota LandCruiser FJ will only come to Australia if these three things happen
Toyota’s surprise assert of the RAV4-sized LandCruiser FJ final week led to the glaring questions: whether, and when, Australian traders could perchance additionally smooth ask to be aware the rebooted FJ on local roads.
Speaking with Chasing Cars on the sidelines of the 2025 Japan Mobility Notify, at which two FJs on camouflage had been mobbed by crowds, Toyota Australia vice chairman of gross sales and marketing Sean Hanley published the resolution is advanced.
“There would possibly be rarely this kind of thing as a query that on looks and the LandCruiser name in Australia [the FJ] will be very attention-grabbing,” acknowledged Hanley.
“The hardcore truth we are dealing with in our country [is] variable rules, new requirements, new car efficiency requirements. We own now to leer very fastidiously at our product portfolio, at what we own we’re going to need, what we are going to promote in numbers, and what customers desire and desire.”
Whereas the FJ is just not any longer straight readily accessible to Toyota Australia, with initial focal level markets understood to be Japan, Thailand and the southeast Asian plot, the FJ has no longer been ruled out for Australia.
There are important hurdles in its diagram, on the opposite hand, as Hanley explained to Chasing Cars.
“We are privy to the automobile. We own now checked out it. We own now analysed it [as] finest as we can, and we loyal don’t—just appropriate now—advise it is miles a automobile that would perhaps be appropriate for our market.”
Suitability for the Australian market and buyer inquire of are a form of issues, and in the relieve of the scenes, Toyota insiders are privy to local curiosity in the FJ and would love to bring it down underneath.
In essence, three bins would must be ticked to bring the FJ to Australia. It would:
- Desire a a form of engine compliant with Australia’s Euro 6d emissions requirements
- Must be cheap for Toyota underneath Australia’s new CO2 emissions penalty diagram
- Must be compliant with Australian Form Guidelines along side with regards to side impression efficiency
So, how seemingly is it that answers would perhaps be learned to all three considerations?
The FJ wants a a form of engine for Australia that meets new Euro 6d emissions tips
Essentially the most important misfortune stopping the LandCruiser FJ being imported to Australia is that its 2TR-FE 2.7-litre petrol four-cylinder engine is dated and is no longer going to be updated to fulfill new emissions requirements coming into pressure in the community in December 2025.
Australia is on the cusp of adopting an emissions long-established known as Euro 6d, which contains more full of life actual-world testing of emissions along side CO2 and NOx.
All imprint-new devices launched into the Australian market from December this year must meet Euro 6d limits or they won’t be licensed for sale.
The Euro 6d tips are a form of to Australia’s Recent Automobile Effectivity Celebrated (NVES), which sees producers rep financial credits or penalties hoping on the total moderate CO2 profile of all autos they promote.
Toyota gross sales boss Hanley suggested Chasing Cars that whereas NVES used to be no longer a full bar on the FJ coming to Australia, Euro 6d used to be.
“It no doubt is the Euro 6 emissions long-established in Australia [stopping the FJ from coming for now]. That would additionally be a fact. That’s the law. Toyota is consistently committed to upholding the rules and ethics of the worldwide locations we work in,” Hanley suggested Chasing Cars.
“If [the FJ] used to be Euro 6, I’d rethink it. I’m loyal mentioning the variables. If that used to be a Euro 6 engine, if it does change into that diagram, which it will additionally, due to I don’t truly know what it is for the time being, then it is one thing we could perchance additionally re-glimpse,” acknowledged Hanley.
Toyota does own Euro 6d-succesful engines at its disposal that will appear to swimsuit the FJ platform, which is associated to the Asian-market Toyota HiLux Champ compact ute.
The HiLux Champ is straight away accessible with Toyota’s 2GD-FTV 2.4-litre turbo diesel four-cylinder engine, which makes exercise of a urea SCR aftertreatment gadget that Toyota has claimed in the previous satisfies Euro 6 emissions rules.
Whereas more radical engine swaps—perhaps along side a petroleum-electric hybrid drivetrain—are that that that you just would perhaps well own of, the top seemingly resolution will be the 2.4-litre diesel.
Even if the FJ gets a new engine, Toyota has to fastidiously bear in mind the NVES impression
In July this year Australia adopted NVES rules that will, in a straightforward sense, survey carmakers that promote too many diesel utes and 4WDs and no longer sufficient EVs and go-in hybrids (PHEVs) rep mountainous financial penalties, sapping or putting off income margins.
Whereas Toyota sells a mountainous proportion of ordinary hybrids in Australia—and it is working on bringing more EVs and PHEVs to the local market—a hyper-novel LandCruiser FJ would reason Toyota an NVES headache.
The CO2 emissions of the LandCruiser 300 Sequence, 250 Sequence Prado and HiLux are already a mountainous topic for Toyota, and the FJ would add to that misfortune.
An FJ fitted with the 2.4-litre diesel engine would seemingly employ a the same quantity of diesel to the Prado 2.8-litre, which is rated at 7.6L/100km with resulting CO2 emissions of 200g/km.
That’s quite a excessive CO2 quantity, especially as the FJ would face a comfy NVES limit of 117g/km from 2026 because it can perchance doubtlessly no longer qualify for the easier CO2 thresholds for heavy-responsibility 4WDs that can tow no longer no longer as much as 3000kg.
Even for these heavy-responsibility 4WDs, the NVES comfy limit is 180g/km next year—which manner even the Prado will soon be in the red.
Toyota will right now start a new-generation RAV4 midsize SUV in Australia that contains a pair of PHEV tidy grades. If these repeat to be very novel, it will additionally rep headroom underneath NVES for Toyota to add the FJ to the local lineup.
NVES is an accounting misfortune for automobile producers, and Toyota has to rep some full of life picks about which excessive-CO2 autos it desire and wishes to elevate on sale.
“Customers need the tall LandCruiser, just appropriate? Customers need that. Customers need the HiLux. We could perchance additionally smooth be very fastidiously deliberate on our product portfolio going forward,” acknowledged Hanley.
Unruffled, Hanley affirmed that NVES is just not any longer an legit bar to the FJ coming to Australia—loyal one other variable that will could perchance additionally smooth be overcome.
The FJ must meet Australian Form Guidelines
It is a long way rarely but confirmed that the LandCruiser FJ—or the HiLux Champ with which it shares some parts—would meet a form of Australian Form Rule requirements in its unique design.
Whereas the HiLux Champ is fitted with side intrusion beams, that does no longer essentially imply that the platform would meet Australia’s tips on side impression protection, which own was more sturdy to fulfill in unique years.
Hanley acknowledged that Toyota Australia didn’t but know whether the FJ would follow such tips.
Whereas a HiLux Champ used to be no longer too long prior to now noticed on Australian roads, Hanley acknowledged Toyota Australia used to be no longer responsible for bringing it into the country.
Source credit : chasingcars.com.au
