The Japanese automaker is well on its way toward establishing itself as a tidal wave force across the automotive industry. It's not enough to be the world's best-selling automaker for three years in a row.
Now, it also wants to have the most substantial presence across the red carpet, thus capturing the spotlight in terms of novelties, as well – especially in North America. Over in the United States, it has churned out one introduction after another this year, from 'small' novelties like the Prius Prime plus Corolla Cross Hybrid and the trio of GR special editions (GR86 Trueno, GR Corolla Circuit, GR Supra 45th Anniversary) or the extensive roster of Nightshade models; right up to the big guns.
Those include the 2024 Grand Highlander three-row family crossover SUV, the N400 Toyota Tacoma – the fourth generation of the best-selling mid-size pickup truck, plus the returning 2024 Land Cruiser. The latter is an exciting apparition – it's not the J300-based full-size Land Cruiser because that one is only available across certain regions.
Instead, this is the global mid-size body-on-frame SUV known as Land Cruiser Prado or Land Cruiser 250 in certain parts of the world. But we should all remember that Toyota already has a strong contender for the title of rugged mid-size SUV – the long-lasting 4Runner, which has been around in its fifth iteration since 2009 and has gone through successive updates to keep it interesting for anyone who doesn't like the primary foes – Jeep Wrangler and Ford Bronco.
So, after the first part of next year, there will be two rugged Toyota SUVs coexisting in the same mid-size sector – the N280-generation 4Runner that's old enough to be a sibling of the J150 Land Cruiser and N300 Tacoma, plus the departed FJ Cruiser. And there will also be the much newer and potentially cooler TNGA-F-based J250 Land Cruiser. As such, it's easy to imagine these two might step on each other's toes, right?
No worries; the imaginative realm of digital car content creators has already solved such a potential predicament. TheAutoReport channel on YouTube is self-described as a "one-stop destination for the latest updates and insights into the dynamic world of (CGI) cars!" So, they also set out to envision the next-gen sixth iteration of the 2025 Toyota 4Runner as an even worthier adversary for the recently updated 2024 Jeep Wrangler and the reinvented Ford Bronco.
More precisely, their resident pixel master purposedly avoided a visual clash with the related 2024 Land Cruiser by giving their vision of the upcoming 2025 Toyota 4Runner a soft-top/removable hardtop SUV treatment – something that was lacking from the array of tricks of the current generation. Even better, there are both front and rear (digital) POVs to discuss, along with a variety of CGI body colors and lots of vintage-styled details (wheels, decals, etc.) – making us eager to give it our digital hall pass!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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