The Next FJ Cruiser?
Toyota has of course already had a modern attempt at recapturing the fun of those mid-century FJ Land Cruisers with the FJ Cruiser. The vehicle’s design took direct inspiration from the FJ40, but the result ultimately ended up being a fun-house-mirrored simulacrum that was highly polarizing, though still a blast to drive.
The brand hasn’t sold an FJ Cruiser in the U.S. since the 2014 model year, and two years ago the model was finally discontinued globally, so it’s entirely possible the new ROX concept is actually what the next generation of FJ Cruiser could look like. We already know that Toyota is planning a smaller Land Cruiser, possibly called the Land Cruiser FJ. Might this be it?
If this is the next FJ Cruiser or the Land Cruiser FJ, Toyota certainly isn’t framing it that way. In the press release for the Land Cruiser ROX, the brand — which leaned on Michigan’s Calty Design Research for the concept’s design — mostly makes it seem as if they simply created the concept for fun.
But there is one quote from Mike Tripp, the group vice president of Toyota Motor North America’s Toyota Division Marketing, that makes it seem like Toyota will be closely eyeing the public’s response to the new concept.