Global production of the retro-styled Toyota FJ Cruiser has officially ended, meaning the legendary SUV is no longer on sale in South Africa after a 12-year local run…

Toyota South Africa Motors has confirmed to Cars.co.za that production of the FJ Cruiser has officially ended in Japan, meaning the retro-styled SUV is no longer available locally after a 12-year run.

We noticed the Hamura-built FJ Cruiser – an off-road SUV defined by its retro styling and complete with rear-hinged back doors, a quirky 3-arm front wiper system and a generous 245 mm of ground clearance – had been quietly removed from Toyota’s SA website and asked the Japanese firm’s local division whether the move signalled the end of the line for the nameplate.

One of the FJ Cruiser’s defining features was its rear-hinged back-door design.

“Yes, we can confirm global discontinuation of the FJ Cruiser product line as of December 2022,” a Toyota SA Motors spokesperson told us, adding the decision “isn’t just limited to” South Africa but other markets as well.

Priced at R813000 before its local discontinuation, the ladder-frame SUV employed Toyota’s familiar naturally aspirated 4.0-litre V6 petrol (1GR-FE) powerplant, which sipped from twin fuel tanks and delivered 200 kW and 380 Nm to all 4 wheels via a 5-speed automatic transmission.

It could complete the 0-100 kph sprint in a claimed 7.6 seconds, with maximum speed pegged at 175 kph. While the 4 670 mm-long FJ Cruiser changed little over its lengthy lifespan, the SA-spec version did benefit from an infotainment upgrade in 2022, scoring Apple CarPlay and Android Auto.

Ground clearance came in at a whopping 245 mm.

Though the FJ Cruiser went into production back in 2006, it reached the South African market only in 2011. It remained on sale here for quite some time despite having been axed in most countries around the world (including its domestic market of Japan back in early 2018). The model was also pulled from markets in the Middle East at the end of 2022.

Over the past 6 months, Toyota SA Motors has registered 98 examples of the FJ Cruiser locally, with sales dipping from 25 units in October 2022 to just 3 units in March 2023, as stock began to run dry. Of course, the FJ Cruiser is still very much available on the used market, with a number currently listed on Cars.co.za…

Farewell, FJ!

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