After the departure of Ford Endeavour from our market, Toyota seems to be relishing its monopoly in the 7-seat full-size SUV segment with unprecedented demand.
As per our dealer-level sources, Toyota has stopped taking bookings for the Fortuner 4×4 variants. Reportedly, the demand for the SUV is so high that some dealers have more than 6 months of waiting on the 4×4 models of the Fortuner. In order to prevent these from going further up, the Japanese auto giant has paused taking bookings for some time. Note that Toyota stopped taking bookings for the diesel Innova as well, although that might have had something to do with the upcoming version of the MPV.
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Toyota Stops Bookings of Fortuner 4×4
After Ford quit manufacturing in India, Endeavour disappeared from the market. As everyone knows, it was the sole worthy rival to the mighty Fortuner in our market. However, in absence of that, people had few alternatives but to buy the Fortuner. Leveraging these circumstances, Toyota even increased the prices of the SUV multiple times and now, the top trim costs just under Rs 50 lakh, ex-showroom making the on-road price over Rs 60 lakh in some cities.
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Despite the astronomical prices, people are flocking toward buying the SUV. Not anticipating such massive demand, Toyota is unable to offer deliveries at the same rate. Hence, they thought it better to halt the bookings for the 4×4 versions for now and resume them at a later stage when the waiting periods come down a bit. It must be mentioned here that there are other products in the market in this segment like the MG Gloster, Isuzu MU-X and the recently launched Jeep Meridian. But none of these could come close to beating the Fortuner as suggested by their meager sales figures.
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Specs
The Toyota Fortuner comes powered by a 2.7-litre petrol unit (164 bhp / 245 Nm) and a 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine (201 bhp / 420 Nm). It is paired with 6-speed manual and automatic transmission options. With the automatic transmission, the torque produced is a massive 500 Nm with the diesel mill. There is plenty of off-roading equipment on offer to make it immensely capable in terrains without tarmac roads. The prices of the SUV range from Rs 32.40 lakh to Rs 49.57 lakh, ex-showroom.
