Toyota Fortuner SUV in India

Updated February 13, 2012: Everything you wanted to know about the Toyota Fortuner!

Toyota Fortuner has been comfortably leading the market in the Rs. 18 lakh-Rs. 25 lakh SUV segment with sales of around 1,000 units a month.

Fortuner—Recent developments

Fortuner gets a 5-speed auto. The four-speed auto is now replaced by a 5-speed automatic transmission. :.

Toyota recently expanded the Fortuner range by adding a 5-speed automatic variant though this version does not come with an all-wheel drive option. But there is a higher priced—Rs. 22.93 lakh—Fortuner 4X2 AT TRD Sportivo edition for those who want a bit more bling.

Fortuner TRD Sportivo Limited Edition launched

Toyota has launched two limited edition Fortuners, with a sporty look, called the TRD Sportivo, only for the festival season. Sportivo edition is available in two colours – super white and sliver mica metallic. It is costs Rs. 60,000 more than the regular/comparable Fortuner 4×2 manual and automatic variants.

So how good is Fortuner?

Toyota Fortuner Reviews

Fortuner Road Tests: Click here for a road test of the 4×4 Toyota Fortuner or check out our video review of the Fortuner

The Fortuner was always a good, solid car in classic Toyota mould—very well built, good off-road capability but so-so when it comes to on-road handling. The updated Fortuner improves what was already a good car. It has sharper styling, more power, more features and better interiors.

Researching Fortuner on Cartoq.com

Its really easy—we have pulled all the details—prices, variants etc. in one place.

You’ll find links to all the good stuff and community questions and answers on the Toyota Fortuner research page

Toyota Fortuner vs. Competition

For much of its life, Fortuner had only Chevrolet Captiva and Ford Endeavour for competition—Honda CR-V lost its sheen once the gap between petrol and diesel prices widened. It easily trumped both.

Then came Hyundai Santa Fe—a well-made SUV from well-established Hyundai—but its refined urbane personality couldn’t draw buyers away from the very-muscular Fortuner.

But now Fortuner has two more rivals—an attractively priced upstart in Mahindra Ssangyong Rexton and the famously-pedigreed Mitsubishi Pajero Sport.

And while not a direct rival, the smartly packaged Mahindra XUV500, offers a lot for much less.

So how do these rivals stack up vis-a-vis Toyota Fortuner?

Toyota Fortuner scores over the once unbeatable Mitsubishi Pajero

 

The headline says it all—Fortuner looks more aggressive, has a bit more power, more features and more space. And it’s a Toyota.

When it comes to Santa Fe, Fortuner does not necessarily beat it head to head. Santa Fe has more power, is plenty refined and comes with good road manners. It’s just that market prefers the more macho, more rugged Fortuner rather than the urbane, understated Santa Fe.  Read more here

Just like its fellow South Korean Santa Fe, the Ssangyong Rexton too has a measure of Fortuner—at least on paper: It’s cheaper, bigger, more powerful and has more features. Yet, Fortuner somehow pips the Rexton overall

 

And then there is the highly successful Mahindra XUV500—not exactly a direct rival as it is a good Rs.5-Rs.7 lakh cheaper—but still an important car. It clocks over 5,000 units in sales every month and has virtually annihilated sedans in the similar price bracket. It offers a viable option to Fortuner—it offers less, the quality is nowhere near Fortuner—but it costs less and is affordable to many more people. Check out this video comparison between the popular Mahindra XUV500 and the Toyota Fortuner

Then there are the entry levels variants the BMW X1 and Audi Q3 but both are pretty small and haven’t dented Fortuner sales. Not yet. A reduction in duty on imported cars could, though, pitch them up against the Fortuner.

And soon there will be a Isuzu 7-seater that will attempt to challenge the Fortuner. Assuming the pricing is attractive, Isuzu will have to convince Indian buyers of good after sales service to notch big numbers.

So for now Fortuner remains largely unchallenged.

The real threat

Ssangyong Grand Turismo: Mahindra has shown some interest in the recently revealed Ssangyong Korando Turiso, an 11 seater SUV!

Now this is one SUV that, if priced right, could really shake-up Fortuner’s dominance. It looks substantive, can seat 11 people and will be sold by Mahindra which has large dealer network. Considering its a new car, one would expect it to at least match the Fortuner—which is a 8 year old—as a machine.

Buying a used Fortuner

Now that it has been around for a while, there are enough used Fortuners available for sale. The good bit is that being very built, they are good buys as used vehicles. The bad news is they are not cheap. In case, you want to buy a used Fortuner, you’ll find this useful: Quick guide to buying a used Toyota Fortuner