As the world celebrates a risen Christ and Easter, Toyota Motor Philippines has finally laid to rest one of its longest serving vehicles: the FJ Cruiser. After almost a decade as part of its official line-up, it has finally been discontinued this April.
The retro-styled SUV was shown as a concept in 2003, and two years later, it entered production initially for the U.S. market. Soon thereafter, the Land Cruiser Prado-based SUV made its way to global markets including Japan in 2010 and the Philippines in 2014.
The FJ Cruiser was built as a homage to the original Land Cruiser, the no-nonsense FJ40. Aimed at attracting a young male user base, a segment Toyota felt they were losing at the time, the FJ Cruiser was designed at the Calty Design Search center in California.
In late 2013, Toyota Motor Philippines finally added the FJ Cruiser as part of the official line-up after seeing its success with parallel importers. The FJ Cruiser proved to be a huge success for the brand both in terms of image and sales. It was also largely responsible for the boon of recreational off-roading and overlanding in the country.
It was powered by a 4.0-liter V6 engine producing 268 horsepower and 380 Nm. It used a 5-speed automatic with a two-speed four-wheel drive system and rear locking differential. Its specification was rather basic with fabric seats, manual AC controls, a non-touchscreen infotainment system, and a rear backup camera. Eventually, the specs were improved to include a touchscreen-based infotainment system.
Originally priced at P 1,798,000 (read our 2014 review here), the price of the FJ Cruiser slowly crept up over the years, finally hitting P 2,293,000 this year.
As part of its goodbye, Toyota Motor Philippines quietly brought in the FJ Cruiser Final Edition. This special variant gets a special beige exterior color that’s color-matched by the seat upholstery and center console. It also gets a high-gloss black coating to its headlight surround, grille, door handles, and fog light clusters. A special plaque on the gas cap and dashboard denotes its stature as a limited-edition model with just 1,000 made globally. Only 11 made it into the country.
Because of its limited quantity, Toyota Motor Philippines had to “raffle off” the unit allocation to the 72 dealerships they had nationwide. And because of the FJ Cruiser Final Edition’s collectible nature, all 11 were snapped up by dealer principals with none making it to the general public, at least officially.
However, a quick look at Facebook Marketplace shows that the FJ Cruiser Final Edition is currently commanding a starting price just shy of P 4 million. Some re-sellers, who look to be Toyota sales agents are outright saying they are not selling these units at SRP; some are outright tacking on a P 200,000 premium, and some are even asking buyers to “name their price.” Heck, others are ready to facilitate re-export to other markets.
Such is the continued desirability for the Toyota FJ Cruiser. You shall be missed.
Photos from Facebook Marketplace
Sayonara...
ReplyDeleteTotally different target markets. I daily-drive an FJC and wouldn't trade it for anything else unless Ford PH officially brings in the Bronco.
ReplyDeleteThis is a sad news for loyalists.
ReplyDeleteI hope the FJ Cruiser will get revived as a BEV. I believe a smaller BEV version is on its way.
ReplyDeleteyep, the compact cruiser ev concept from last year :D
DeleteIt has its own niche market, Not meant to compete with ppv and other refined suv's. its for those who want a nice looking, old school reliable baddas retro new old suv that can offroad. Just like that the jimny not meant to compete with refined subcompact suv/cuv
ReplyDelete