Toyota launches FJ Cruiser
Toyota Motor Sales’ sport utility chief gave Valley auto writers a preview of the company’s new FJ Cruiser last night on the eve of its national sales launch.
No soccer moms need apply, said Mark Amstock, national manager for Toyota sport utilities and vans. The FJ Cruiser was developed for the “niche market of truly committed off-road enthusiasts,” he said.
The FJ shares a platform and its V6 engine with Toyota’s 4Runner sport utility and Tacoma pickup, but looks radically different.
It’s true to the concept shown at the 2003 North American Interational Auto Show in Detroit, Amstock said. “It blends the current technology of Land Cruiser with the styling of the 1958 FJ20.”
Toyota developed its first Jeep-like vehicles at the request of the U.S. military during reconstruction efforts in post-World War II Japan. FJ was the code name for the original Land Cruiser, which tops Toyota’s sport utility lineup today.
The FJ belies Toyota’s normally conservative design with a two-tone paint job, a wide, flat grille, round headlamps, upright windshield, wrap-around rear windows and rear-hinged suicide door in the back.
The car targets young buyers with active, outdoor lifestyles, according to Amstock. Dealers already have taken some 3,500 deposits on the new vehicles, which start at $21,710 for the automatic two-wheel drive model. A fully loaded four-wheel model will go for between $28,500 and $29,000, he said. That compares to more than 30 grand for the 4Runner and 50-plus for the Land Cruiser.
But unlike most new vehicle launches, you won’t see a blitz of television commercials for the FJ.
Keeping true to its target market, FJ’s marketing team is taking a grassroots approach, Amstock said. For example, trail teams will work with local off road clubs, and there will be advertising in off-road-type magazines, he said.
Toyota expects to sell 46,000 FJs this year, a number primarily limited by engine availability, Amstock said.
Published March 22, 2006 by The Business Journal
