Australian door opens for 2026 Toyota LandCruiser FJ as big engine news breaks for budget-friendly 4WD rival to Suzuki Jimny: reports

An Indian-built Toyota LandCruiser FJ would include a plan to introduce petrol-hybrid powertrains, potentially opening the door to an Australian launch for the cut-price off-road hero, according to new reports.

A new Toyota production facility in India’s Maharashtra region is expected to come online in 2029 – some three years after production of the petrol-powered FJ will commence elsewhere – with the delayed start expected to pave the way for new petrol-electric powertrains.

That’s the word from Rush Lane, which reports that the FJ is slated for production at the new facility, both for domestic sale and for export markets. Thailand, where most of Australia’s utes are manufactured, is the other major production hub.

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Australia is unlikely to source cars from India, but the publication’s local sources suggest petrol and hybrid variants will be produced. Once those powertrains are developed, they would likely be produced at all production facilities.

It’s the hybrid that would be of most interest to Australia, with Toyota here so far ruling out the FJ almost exclusively because of its basic petrol engine that wouldn’t meet tightening regulations. Without it, the brand says the FJ would be “very appealing”.

“The LandCruiser name in Australia would be very appealing, but the hardcore reality we are facing in our country… variable regulations, new criterias, new vehicle efficiency standards,” the brand's then VP of Sales and Marketing Sean Hanley has previously told us.

“We have to look very carefully at our product portfolio. What do we think we’re going to need? What are we going to sell in numbers? What do customers want and need?

2026 Toyota FJ LandCruiser

“Customers need that bigger LandCruiser. Customers need that LandCruiser ute. Customers need that HiLux. So we’ve got to be very carefully planned on our product portfolio moving forward.

“It’s not about NVES, it’s just about regulations.

“We’re moving to Euro 6 emissions standards. That’s the reality,” he said.

A petrol-hybrid powertrain by the end of the decade might well put the FJ back on Australia’s hit list, where – according to recent price expectations in Japan – it would undercut everything from the Denza B5 to the GWM Tank 300.

In Japan, the FJ will reportedly start at around $4.5m yen, which converts to just under $40,000.