Toyota has officially announced the launch of the ‘next-gen’ Fortuner on 7th Nov 2016. Fortuner has undoubtedly been the most successful flagship model for Toyota and we have huge expectations from the upcoming model. Recently it has been challenged by Ford’s Endeavour and did lose the top slot of the segment to Ford. The lower numbers of Fortuner was also attributed by Toyota’s plan to reduce its own and dealer inventory.
The next-gen Toyota Fortuner is based on the new the ‘Toyota New Generation Architecture’ (TNGA) platform, which also underpins the new Innova Crysta. Toyota claims that the SUV is lighter and stiffer and promises improved ride quality, handling, and safety. In terms of looks, the new Fortuner comes with a host of design and cosmetic changes – It’s sleeker and looks much agile.
Fortuner has always been a ‘HOT’ seller for Toyota and was no product could ever-emulate its success since the launch. Even Endeavour currently is far behind the volumes that Fortuner had gained in its best times. In 2013, Fortuner garnered ~1,500 units/month! The volumes for a >Rs.25 Lakhs costing product was humongous and made the competition look lame. The butch looking SUV made a niche for itself and contributed significantly to Toyota’s & Dealer’s overall profitability. Fortuner’s dispatches to dealers started since Aug’09 and has sold over 96k units till date! Let’s look at its sales journey over years –
With Toyota’s timeless quality and reliability factoring in with the New Fortuner – we expect the upcoming model to help regain its ‘Fortune’ and move the model to the Top Slot in the segment again.