It's happening! Mini 2026 Toyota LandCruiser FJ 4WD to launch next year as rival to tiny Mitsubishi Pajero and Suzuki Jimny rival, but it might not be on the cards for Australia: reports

The mini Toyota LandCruiser FJ, will it or won’t it become a reality? We will never truly know until it is revealed but the facts are stacking up in it showing up real soon.

Rumours about the LandCruiser FJ have been relentless, so relentless that it is hard to ignore.

Japanese magazine, Best Car, has been reporting on leaks and rumours for the past few years with increasing frequency.

The outlet is well known for its sources in the Japanese car industry and it has produced the digital renders seen in this story, which give a glimpse of what the FJ LandCruiser could look like.

Its latest mail puts the FJ LandCruiser launching in the northern hemisphere spring in 2026, or autumn next year for us.

This follows patent filings to the World Intellectual Property Organisation (WIPO) by Toyota, which include an image of what appears to be a production version of this revived FJ Cruiser.

The patent was originally filed back in January 2024 and was published in March 2025.

Toyota Australia has also trademarked the FJ LandCruiser name. Toyota Australia executive, Sean Hanley, was noncommittal on the FJ LandCruiser when quizzed about the trademark by CarsGuide previously.

“Doesn’t surprise me because we trademark a lot of things. We may at some point want to use it again but there’s nothing that I’m aware of,” said Hanley.

“I’m not aware of that product, but I’m not surprised. FJ is a great trademark, I’m glad we locked it down.”

Intel from the car industry’s best sleuths paint an enticing picture of the mythical FJ LandCruiser.

It is compact, about the same size as a Corolla Cross or Hyundai Kona SUV, measuring at about 4500mm long, 1830mm wide and 1850mm tall. It will have 210mm of ground clearance and full time four-wheel drive.

Power will come from a choice of either a 2.4-litre turbo-diesel engine or a 2.7-litre petrol motor, which are both found in entry-level HiLux utes.

It won’t be built on the top-notch TNGA platform that underpins the new Prado and LandCruiser 300 Series. 

Instead it will be based on the IMV-0, which is the genesis for models in emerging markets such as the HiLux Champ in South-East Asia.

It is thought the LandCruiser FJ might be an SUV version of this, in the same way a Ford Everest is the SUV version of the Ranger ute.

If this is true it would count it out for Australia as it is unlikely to meet design regulations and safety requirements.