Toyota FJ Cruiser lands in Australia

The baby Toyota LandCruiser FJ has quietly touched down in Australia – and it's turned up in a very telling location. Both the compact FJ and the all-new Y63 Nissan Patrol have been spotted at ARB's Kilsyth headquarters in Melbourne's east, a clear sign the aftermarket giant is already hard at work engineering bull bars, suspension, drawers and touring gear for the pair.

Which begs the question for Toyota FJ Cruiser – is it coming to Australia after all? It's a tantalising development, given Toyota Australia has repeatedly stated it has "no current plans" to bring the little Cruiser here.

The baby Toyota LandCruiser FJ has quietly turned up in Australia, spotted at ARB's Kilsyth headquarters in Melbourne's east alongside the all-new Y63 Nissan Patrol.

It's a tantalising sight, though not proof of anything concrete – ARB sells its bull bars, drawers, suspension and touring kit into more than 100 countries, so a left-hook FJ in Kilsyth doesn't automatically mean the little Cruiser is Australia-bound.

Even so, ARB doesn't develop accessories on a whim, and in a local 4x4 aftermarket worth an estimated $6 billion a year, both cars sitting on Australian soil says the industry is taking them seriously.

We saw the same playbook with the Kia Tasman, where a full ARB catalogue emerged roughly a month before launch.

Toyota Australia, for its part, clearly wants the FJ – it just can't have it yet.

"If that [new FJ Cruiser] became available, we'd look at it, because I know the car you're talking about. It's a ripper," Toyota sales boss John Pappas told carsales.

"But it's got to meet our emissions, our Euro 6 regulations. It's got to meet that for us to consider it," he previously told carsales.

So he left the door ajar, describing it as "a really nice car for our market, for sure," and when asked whether a compliant powertrain might arrive in time, the reply was honest.

"We'd hope so," he said.

The sticking point is the FJ's 2.7-litre four-cylinder petrol (120kW/246Nm), which fails Australia's NVES emissions rules, though a petrol-hybrid built in India from 2029 could eventually solve that. Watch this space.

The Y63 Patrol beside it is a far surer thing. Locked in for Australia, it swaps the old 5.6-litre V8 for a more powerful twin-turbo 3.5-litre V6, ready-made for the towing and touring crowd ARB builds for.

Whether or not the Toyota FJ ever gets the green light, the aftermarket is clearly preparing as though both have a future here.

Whether or not the FJ ever gets an official Toyota Australia tick, its appearance at ARB suggests the industry is preparing as if it will.

Pair that with the Y63 Patrol already being kitted out for local touring duty, and it's clear the aftermarket is betting big on both.

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