More images of the 2008 facelift / Minor Change Fortuner have begun to surface.
The updated model, which will feature only minimal exterior changes while much of what goes under the skin remains untouched.
Sales is expected to begin between late August and September, depending on market, with Thailand (one of Fortuner's main production hub) being the earliest to introduce the vehicle.
Images courtesy of Autoincar.
According to Indian market automotive blogger Autoincar, the refreshed Fortuner will be marketed under a new tagline "The Ultimate Attraction." In typical Japanese car fashion, cars are named with really weird sounding names and even more corny taglines. Press kits states that Fortuner was supposed to be inspired by a play of words of "Fortress," but to me, it sounds more like some Chinese God of Fortune's set of wheels. And...the ultimate attraction? Seriously, to put words like Ultimate and Attraction on a crude PPV (pick-up passenger vehicle) is going a bit too far. Maybe Toyota's marketing guys need to come down to earth and look around other car marques a wee bit more.
Image courtesy of Toyota Motor Thailand
The current generation Fortuner is marketed under the tagline "The World Is Mine" which fits the car's image rather well. The brawny-crude-machismo feel of the phrase fits well with the vehicle's immense hulk.
By the way, PPV is a category of vehicle created by the Thai government to encourage further development away from its predominantly truck based car industry. To sum it loosely, it's a segment of vehicles created based on truck platforms and is entitled to enjoy certain fiscal benefits from the government. It is supposed to encourage even higher economics of scale by encouraging Thai-based car plants to built different types of vehicles while sharing the same basic mechanicals. Isuzu's MU7 (based on D-Max), Ford's Everest (based on Ranger) and Toyota's Fortuner (based on Hilux) are models born as a result of the PPV incentive.
For more images :
Toyota Fortuner Minor Change (Facelift), August 2008.
Toyota Innova Minor Change / Facelift
Related link :
Hilux Facelift / Minor Change
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