Toyota Fortuner: REAL reasons why everyone’s still buying this legendary SUV

The Toyota Fortuner is the premium SUV king in the Indian market. From politicians to the everyday Indian, the Toyota Fortuner has become the premium SUV of choice in India. Such is its dominance that it outsells its closest rival by a ratio of 4:1 averaging around 2,000 units sold a month to the Ford’ Endeavour’s 500. So what are the real reasons for the Toyota Fortuner’s runaway success in India? Let’s find out.

Toyota’s image

Toyota’s image of building tough cars that can last a lifetime has made the Fortuner a household name in India.

The first-gen Fortuner, which arrived in 2009 created a strong base for itself over the years with its muscular design and this along with its reliability ensured that it became the full-size SUV of choice for most people. Also, its popularity among the most powerful figures in the government including PM Narendra Modi made it the SUV to buy for many aspirational owners.

Resale value

 

The Toyota Fortuner is one of the vehicles that really manages to retain its value despite years of use. The Fortuner enjoys a high resale value, which has made it a popular choice for prospective SUV buyers. In fact, an article by Carwale reported that the Fortuner retains 85 percent of its value even after three years of use, which makes it a popular choice for people looking to upgrade their vehicle after using it for a few years.

Trustworthy sales network

 

Toyota after-sales service network is quite widespread across India and covers almost all major cities and towns in the country. In fact, Toyota has around 250+ service centres across the country that can be found in Tier II and Tier III cities. Toyota offers the Fortuner with three years comprehensive warranty which customers can extend and the company also provides roadside assistance, which helps reassure buyers about their new purchase. Also, Toyota’s engines are known for their reliability and can easily last for a few lakh kilometres without giving any trouble.

Affordable service

Toyota’s popularity in India is helped by the low cost of ownership compared to many of its rivals, which has helped the Fortuner thrive in its segment. The Fortuner like other Toyota cars is quite affordable to maintain and is not known for breaking down on a whim. Like other cars in the lineup, the Fortuner only needs general servicing to remain in tip-top shape which helps bring down the cost of ownership over time.

Wide range of variants

 

The Toyota Fortuner comes with a wide range of engine choices and variants. Toyota currently offers six variants of the Fortuner, including the manuals and the automatic one. The Fortuner is available with both petrol and diesel engines, unlike the rivals. Both engine options are available with manual and automatic transmission options though the petrol Fortuner is only offered in 4×2 guise. The diesel, on the other hand, is offered in both two-wheel-drive and four-wheel-drive variants.

Highly reliable and efficient diesel engine

The Toyota Fortuner’s diesel variants are powered by a 2.8-litre GD-series engine. The engine features Associated ESTEC (Economy with Superior Thermal Efficient Combustion) technology that helps increases fuel efficiency considerably while providing seamless acceleration to the SUV.

Toyota states that the GD series engines return a high thermal efficiency of 44 percent and the carmaker claims that the 2.8-litre engine from the series is one of the most thermally efficient engines ever made. The engine produces 174.5 Bhp and 420 Nm of peak torque when powering the Fortuner.