Toyota has many high-riding vehicles in its portfolio, and as you likely already know, not all of them are being marketed in North America. For instance, the mighty Hilux remains a forbidden fruit over here, where you can buy the Tacoma or the Tundra instead.
The brand's crossover and SUV portfolio is vast, and even if it comprises some interesting proposals, such as the Sequoia and 4Runner, it misses out on the Fortuner. What is a Toyota Fortuner, you ask? In as few words as possible, the SUV sibling of the Hilux pickup.
In production since mid-2015, the second-gen Toyota Fortuner comes to life at multiple factories all over the world. It's made in Thailand, Vietnam, Malaysia, Pakistan, Indonesia, India, Egypt, Kenya, South Africa, and Argentina and uses the same nuts and bolts as the latest Hilux.
Depending on where it is sold, the Fortuner is offered with various powertrains. A pair of gasoline units and several diesel mills make up the engine family, together with manual and automatic transmissions with five and six gears. It weighs well over two tons (4,400+ lbs), and with the right modifications, it can become a true off-road warrior.
But what if it got the same goodies as the 2024 Hilux GR Sport II? This model premiered in Europe a few days ago and brings several interesting upgrades to the otherwise potent truck. The model features a revised suspension with a jacked-up stance, an improved approach angle, larger front disc brakes, discs at the back instead of the usual drums, and 17-inch wheels wrapped in chunky tires.
The width was also improved, and it has wheel arch extensions to enhance its stance, as well as several sporty accents all around sprinkled with the usual GR logos. There are no changes under the hood, where it retains the 2.8-liter turbodiesel making 201 hp (204 ps/150 kW), hooked up to a six-speed automatic gearbox.
But what if Toyota decided to give a similar treatment to the Fortuner? Well, then it would look very similar (if not identical) to the one rendered out by Theottle. The digital artist rearranged the pixels of the regular SUV, decorating it with some design cues inspired by the Hilux GR Sport II. Thus, it has a very similar face, wheel arch extensions, wheels and tires, and a few other bits and bobs to make it stand out.
If priced accordingly, we reckon a real Fortuner GR Sport II with the upgrades mentioned above would sell in sufficient numbers to make it profitable. But would you contribute to its sales if the Japanese automaker brought it to our market, or would you stick to something else? Your opinion always matters to us, so tell us what you think about it by dropping a line below.
After a series of unfortunate events put an end to Cristian's dream of entering a custom built & tuned old-school Dacia into a rally competition, he moved on to drive press cars and write for a living. He's worked for several automotive online journals and now he's back at autoevolution after his first tour in the mid-2000s. Full profile
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