Toyota Fortuner facelift unveiled in Thailand, likely to make its way to India by 2021

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Auto enthusiasts have been waiting for a rather long time for a Toyota Fortuner facelift to make it to markets and the SUV has finally been unveiled.

The new 2021 Toyota Fortuner was unveiled in Thailand and gets several updates from exterior styling and new LED elements to an upgraded diesel that makes better power and torque figures. Toyota is also offering a Legender variant which will be the top-spec trim in the Fortuner lineup.

The changes to the SUV’s exterior are the major talking point of the update. The Fortuner gets an all new face with a larger mesh grille up front and a new bumper. This is flanked by redesigned LED headlamps and LED DRLs. The rear gets a refreshed tail lamp design which is also LED. Even the 18-inch alloys are new.

The Legender variant of the Fortuner on the other hand is sportier with a completely different split grille and the new front bumper also houses the LED turn indicators.

The headlamp is also unique with a dual-projector LED headlamp and unique LED DRLs. The alloys are 20-inchers with dual-tone finish and gloss black added to the front and rear bumpers.

The Fortuner will carry forward the petrol engine and the 2.8-litre diesel that is available for the Indian market has been upgraded to BS-VI norms but gets a boost in power and torque figures.

The new engine churns out 204 PS of power and 500 Nm of peak torque. This is up from the current 177 PS and 450 Nm on the current model. Expect 6-speed manual and a 6-speed automatic transmission options.

On the inside, the standard variants don’t see much change except for the addition of an 8-inch touchscreen infotainment system, a slightly updated instrument cluster.

There is also an 8-way power adjustable driver and front passenger seats, ambient lighting, 9-speaker audio system by JBL and wireless smartphone charger. The Legender gets a little more specifications with a larger 9-inch infotainment unit along with the Toyota Safety Sense that adds host of safety features to the car such as collision prevention, lane departure warning, dynamic cruise control, etc.

The current Toyota Fortuner gets a starting price of Rs 28.66 lakh (ex-showroom, Delhi). As for the new SUV, we can only expect an India launch sometime in 2021 and prices, too, could be substantially higher than the current Fortuner.