2021 Toyota Fortuner SUV teaser released in Malaysia

KUALA LUMPUR: Back in June,  Toyota officially revealed the facelifted Fortuner in Thailand and now the Japanese automaker is ready to bring the updated SUV to the local market. Toyota Malaysia has recently teased the new Fortuner on its official website and social media indicating its soon arrival. 

While offering mechanical and styling updates, the upcoming facelift is set to add more modern features to the aging SUV. And, most exciting of all, the teaser showcased a sportier-looking front, which means the Legender trim introduced in Thailand is also likely to hit the Malaysian roads.

Talking about the updated model, a big change is expected in terms of exterior styling. The updates included in the Thai-spec Fortuner are a new radiator grille up front with a mesh design, restyled LED headlamps with integrated DRLs, new fog lights, a revised front bumper, new 18-inch alloy rims, and slimmer LED tail lights. While at the same time, the Fortuner Legender boasts a more radical design, teamed up with sharp-looking projector headlamps and L-shaped DRLs, a sleeker front grille, and some other cosmetic enhancements.

On the inside, the 2021 Fortuner seems to carry forward its overall interior layout and styling along with some significant equipment changes. These may include a revised infotainment system that supports Android Auto and Apple CarPlay, a new Optitron 4.2-inch meter instrument cluster, wireless smartphone charging, and LED ambient lighting. 

Under the hood, the Thai-spec version gets two turbo diesel engines, including a smaller 2.4-litre mill producing 150 PS of maximum power and 400 Nm of peak torque as well as a larger 2.8-litre unit generating 204 PS and 500 Nm. The latter gets a boost of 27 PS and 50 Nm. Besides this, the setup gets improved cooling and other revisions, reducing fuel consumption and improving cleaner emissions. According to Toyota, it is 17% more fuel-efficient now.

As for safety, the automaker may bring on board the Toyota Safety Sense suite for top-spec trim as we have seen in Thailand. It covers different active safety systems like Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, Pre-Collision System, and Lane Departure Alert.

We expect Toyota to price the 2021 Fortuner higher than the ongoing version on account of updates. However, we have to wait for more to see how much the prices will rise.

Also read: 2021 Toyota new cars: What to expect?