WATCH: New Toyota Fortuner shows face ahead of Mzansi launch

The latest version of South Africa’s favourite SUV, the Toyota Fortuner, is ready to be rolled out in local show rooms in February.

Watch reveal of updated Toyota Fortuner

Toyota Motors South Africa (TSAM) gave the media and industry leaders a sneak peek of the updated Fortuner at its annual State of the Motoring Industry in Kyalami on Thursday. The facelifted model was originally planned for local roll out in the second half of 2022, but it had to be delayed after the Prospecton assembly plant in Durban where it is built suffered severe flood damage in April.

A striking feature of the updated Toyota Fortuner is the front grille being split in two. A flat top grille flanked by LED headlights sporting a new pattern and a larger lower grille is split by the front bumper which sharp lines also incorporates new fog light housings.

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The update Fortuner also feature new 10-spoke alloy wheels with dual-tone finishing and L-shaped inserts on the corners of the rear bumper.

The interior is again black, but now complemented by subtle red inserts.

The powertrains of the updated Toyota Fortuner will remain unchanged from the current 110 kW/400 Nm 2.4 and 150 kW/500 Nm 2.8-litre GD-6 diesel engines.

GR-Sport model a possibility

TSAM has not ruled out the addition of a GR-Sport version to the updated Fortuner line-up. There has been plenty of debate around the issue since the second generation of the hugely popular Toyota Hilux GR-S made its local debut last year.

“The Toyota Fortuner GR-S is available in Thailand, but it will not be offered when the updated Fortuner is rolled out in South Africa in February,” Riaan Esterhuyzen, TSAM Manager Marketing, Production and Communications, told The Citizen Motoring on Tuesday.

“However, that is not to say it will stay that way. It is most definitely on the table and something we will look into taken the popularity of the GR Sport name.”

Despite a severe stock shortage caused by the KZN floods, TSAM still sold a total of 7 805 Fortuners in 2022. This translates into an incredibale market share of 41% in the local medium SUV segment.

Pricing, specifications and the confirmed line-up for the updated Toyota Fortuner is expected to be announced closer to the local launch planned for next month.