Why did Toyota stop making the FJ Cruiser?
Despite gaining huge popularity in the first production year, Toyota declared that the 2014 FJ Cruiser will be the last official model for the series.
Toyota discontinued the production of the FJ Cruiser in 2014 due to the plummeted sale worldwide.
While Toyota sold 56,225 units of FJ Cruiser across the United States in 2006, the sales dropped to only 14,718 units in 2014.
The 2008 recession is probably the most dominant reason why the sale of the Toyota FJ Cruiser series dropped from its zenith to the bottom.
A little history of Toyota FJ Cruiser
Concept proposed | January 2003 at the North American International Auto Show |
First production shown | January 2005 at the North American International Auto Show |
Production discontinued | In 2014 |
Production discontinued in Japan | January 2018 |
Although Toyota declared in 2014 that the manufacturer has discontinued the production of the FJ Cruiser, some parts of the world still produced the lineup until the last FJ Cruiser came from Japan in January 2018.
SALE OF FJ CRUISER IN NORTH AMERICA SINCE ITS INCEPTION
Interestingly, the Toyota FJ Cruiser series saw the highest sale in its first production year. At that time, the sale was over 56,000 units across the United States.
From above 55,000 sales in 2007, it dropped to a little above 28,000 units in 2008 across North America.
A year after the 2008 recession, the FJ series saw its greatest fall with only 11,941unit sales across the country.
The sale never crossed 15,000 until the declaration of discontinuation in the year 2014.
FJ Cruiser series was initially launched intending to serve the North American territory.
As the sale never met the expectation except for the very first year, it was expected that the end is near.
What are the reasons behind the discontinuation of the production of the FJ Cruiser?
After digging deeper into the history of the Evolution of Toyota, here are the top three reasons why Toyota discontinued the production of FJ-
Number one: 2008 recession
The other two reasons that I am about to mention could have survived if the 2008 recession were not the primary reason behind the fall of Toyota FJ.
The 2008 recession has totally lifted the picture upside down for FJ.
While the sale was near 30,000 units one year prior to the recession, the sale completely fall half the way down one year after the recession.
And from that perspective, it is easy to say which reason has inserted the last nail into the coffin.
Number two: cost reduction
Before the production of FJ, Toyota mentioned that they want to build a series that would be fairly different from other series in terms of the price range.
As the outcome, we got the FJ Cruiser series.
But to achieve cost efficiency, Toyota had to cut off some of the features that simultaneously got positive and negative criticisms.
The reduction of the cargo spacing or smaller rear seats might have played a better role in the reduction of popularity.
Number three: focusing too much on the off-roading capacity
You have an off-road FJ Cruiser should not mean you will always be driving in extreme conditions. Toyota took it very seriously to deliver a robust vehicle that survives in every tough condition but somehow forgot to make it a bit reasonable for the normal road conditions.
Having too much body roll and lateral grip performance capability might have also played a good role that ultimately brought the doomsday for the FJ Cruiser.
We still love you FJ Cruiser
Trust me! This off-road cruiser was exceptional. With a top-notch off-roading capacity, almost all of the designs that the series included attracted the eye.
Those who still own a cruiser are surely lucky as many people still want to have one.
