Toyota has filed a trademark application in Japan for a vehicle to be known as Land Cruiser FJ.
The news comes via a member of LandCruiser-forum.com and suggests Toyota will continue to expand the reach of its iconic Land Cruiser brand. And while we can only speculate at this point, the inclusion of the letters ‘FJ’ invokes the legendary FJ40 and more recent FJ Cruiser, suggesting this variant will be a smaller, more hard-core off-roader. Right up our alley.
Growing Land Cruiser Family
The current Land Cruiser generation started with the introduction of the Land Cruiser 300 Series back in 2021. The introduction of that model meant the temporary disappearance of the Land Cruiser marque from the U.S. market, though Lexus will be happy to sell you a variant in the form of its luxury barge, the LX. But after a couple years of waiting, Toyota introduced the Land Cruiser 250 Series – a more affordable and slightly smaller off-road rig set to go on sale in North America as a 2024 model.
But the introduction of the 250 Series seems to have just been the start of the expansion of the Land Cruiser brand, because Toyota used its debut not only to announce an update to the long-serving 70 Series, but also to tease three additional vehicles, seen on screen behind the new 250 Series parked on stage.
The Japan Mobility Show in October gave us answers to two of those three vehicles, a folding electric three-wheeler to be called Land Hopper, and a three-row EV called Land Cruiser Se.
What is the Land Cruiser FJ?
That leaves the third, and most interesting vehicle from the teaser, still to be revealed. We can see its a smaller, more retro and rugged looking off-roader reminiscent of the original Toyota Land Cruiser, the FJ40. And with the news of this trademark filing, it seems like a natural fit for a Land Cruiser FJ badge.
Whether our reading of the tea leaves will pan out, and if that vehicles comes to our shores, all remains to be seen. But this is an exciting development for Toyota fans looking for a new generation of serious off-road machines.
Join the discussion at LandCruiser-forum.com.