Preview of next Fortuner? New Toyota 4Runner debuting on 9 April

With no details having emerged until now, Toyota has released the first teaser images of the all-new 4Runner in the United States, ahead of its confirmed unveiling on 9 April.

All-new

The first completely new generation in 15 years seeing as the current fifth dates from 2009, the still popular body-on-frame 4Runner will, however, undergo a complete transformation with styling seemingly derived from the new Land Cruiser Prado.

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As evident by the images, apart from a rear window that lowers electrically as opposed to the glass section of the bootlid opening in a split fashion, the only other visible details involve the same taillight clusters and rounded profile as the Land Cruiser Prado, an expansive freestanding touchscreen infotainment system and brown leather seats.

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Unsurprisingly devoid of any other information, the 4Runner’s biggest transition will be the move to the TNGA-F platform underpinning the Land Cruiser 300 and Sequioa, as well as its bakkie sibling, the Tacoma, and the Land Cruiser Prado due to South Africa this month.

Why the relevance?

While set to drop the current model’s 4.0-litre V6 petrol engine for the same 2.4-litre turbocharged units as the Tacoma – with and without hybrid assistance – the significance for South Africa is that the 4Runner could provide the first hint of what to expect from the incoming all-new Fortuner.

First sighted in a leaked image in India last July, the Fortuner has remained under wraps since then with speculation alluding to a possible reveal in 2023 having failed to materialise.

Now more than likely only expected in 2025, a year in which the all-new Hilux will make its debut, the Fortuner will seemingly follow the same strategy as its bakkie sibling by being aligned with the 4Runner for the first time as a means of reducing costs.

This after MotorTrend reported in 2021 that the Hilux and Tacoma would share the same basic fundamentals for the first time since 1995 when the latter replaced the Americanised Hilux, called the Toyota Pick-Up, as means of catering to requirements specific to the North American market.

Subsequently, the report states the same will apply to the Fortuner and 4Runner, but not the Land Cruiser Prado or Land Cruiser 300, whose only offshoots will be upscale Lexus versions that have since happened in the shape of the GX and LX.

Going further, the publication indicates that apart from the TNGA-F platform, the interiors will also be similar in the Tacoma and 4Runner as in the Hilux and Fortuner, albeit with only small changes expected.

It, therefore, means that the mentioned infotainment system, which measures eight or 14-inches in the Tacoma, will be carried over into the 4Runner and more than likely, into the Hilux and Fortuner, with the same applying to the seven and 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.

The body-on-frame architecture further means the retention of the low range transfer and selectable four-wheel-drive system, while in the 4Runner and Fortuner, seating for up to seven will once again provided.

Wait almost over

As it stands, all of the mentioned aspects are speculative and only be realised come next week Tuesday when the wraps officially come off the sixth generation 4Runner in the States.

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