You Can't Have the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ and Here's Why

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By: Gustavo Henrique Ruffo

It's been a while since I last saw any vehicle presentation cause the same commotion as the Toyota Land Cruiser FJ introduction did. People all over the world are drooling for the SUV, which has the looks, capabilities, size, and maybe even pricing to be a worldwide hit.

However, Toyota has already said European and US dealerships will not sell it, with some pretty hard-to-buy excuses. You can blame safety and emission rules instead, but let’s not forget that industrial and commercial aspects also play a role.

That's the only possible conclusion for an automaker with a winning product deciding not to sell it everywhere it can. Is the Land Cruiser FJ a niche vehicle that would only sell in very specific markets? No. Masaya Uchiyama, Toyota's Chief Engineer, said this is a car for "the global South." By that, he means Latin America, Africa, the Middle East, and Southeast Asia.

That clearly points out to developing markets, but it says more than that. These markets are very different from each other, yet all of them should receive it, which proves the new SUV is not limited by local tastes or regulations. Even Japan will get the car, which should make you scratch your head. It is not in "the great South," it is not a developing country... Yet, it will get the car Europeans and Americans wish. Why?

The explanation is simple. Toyota's home market is known for less stringent emission requirements. Not urging its automakers to sell only battery electric vehicles (BEVs) until 2035 shows that clearly. That makes Japan one of the few developed countries that should receive the Land Cruiser FJ. Australia, New Zealand, and Israel are among the other possible exceptions, mostly because their new car markets are not that big.

If they were remotely close to those in Europe or the US, local production would be the only feasible option for the high demand the Land Cruiser FJ should generate. Safety and emission rules are the reasons that prevent that, which shows just how complex the automotive industry is.

When I wrote about nostalgic design done right, I said the idea was to preserve the soul, not only the looks. Toyota did precisely that with the Land Cruiser FJ. This car was born as a BEV concept, but people loved it so much that the Japanese automaker knew it had to hit production lines. However, it could never do so as an electric vehicle because that would make it expensive and limit its lifespan, two characteristics that the original FJ40 never had.

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By: Cristian Agatie

Tesla unveiled the Roadster in 2017 alongside the Semi truck, but neither of them has entered production. The Semi Class-8 truck has seen better prospects, as it (at least) started trial production in December 2022. Approximately 100 units have been produced so far, but volume production is still expected to commence in 2026. Meanwhile, the Roadster is still a poster on a wall, with no prototypes built beyond the ones showcased in 2017.

For years, people assumed the Roadster would remain a dream car with few chances of being produced. From time to time, Elon Musk would talk about it, adding new features that seemed disconnected from reality. For instance, Tesla CEO said in 2021 that the Roadster could hover. About the same time, he also wanted to equip it with thrusters behind the license plate, "James Bond style," to propel the car forward. 

At the time, the Roadster was supposed to start deliveries in 2022, which means the feature was supposed to have already been tried and tested. Alas, it wasn't, showing that Musk was not overly optimistic but outright lied about the sports car's capabilities. The Roadster was not only years from entering production, but Tesla wasn't even working on it.

That's the worst part with Musk overpromising and underdelivering. Every time he announces something extraordinary, Tesla takes so much time to make it possible that a project sees huge delays. By the time the new feature is introduced in development, other carmakers might already be offering the same feature in production. If anything, Musk's fantasies only hurt Tesla, as they delay new model launches. This was obvious with the Cybertruck, and it might also be the case with the Roadster. 

Elon Musk is again talking about the Roadster, but it's unlikely that the upcoming sports car will impress anyone. The world moved on, and the groundbreaking features Tesla promised for the Roadster are quickly becoming mainstream thanks to other carmakers. Will the Tesla Roadster still offer a compelling package, or is it dead on arrival?

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By: Mircea Panait

Editor’s note: You may already be aware of Dacia, the high-value-for-money brand topping sales charts in Europe, or maybe this is the first time you’re hearing about it. Nevertheless, its history starts way back in 1968, so there’a lot to learn about. Our original article from years ago was up for a serious refresher, here’s the new and improved version.

One of the biggest automotive industry success stories wouldn't be here with us without two important actors, those being French automaker Renault and the infamous Romanian communist dictator Nicolae Ceasescu. The latter had more to do with Dacia's birth, yet Renault was the actor that made Dacia a household name in the European automotive space.

At one point, the hugely incompetent and immensely authoritarian Ceausescu famously said that Dacia's first series-production car was "just right for idiots." It sure tells a lot about the dictator's character, and it also explains why the Romanian people had finally had enough of Nicolae by December 1989.

The Romanian manufacturer's history could not have begun any other way than with the aforementioned statement. Deep inside, Ceausescu was likely ashamed that his country didn't have a car brand to show the decadent westerners that Romania isn't the communist backwater that it was back in the 1960s.

And that also explains how Ceausescu's mind worked. Rather than feeling responsible for his people's wellbeing, Nicolae was obsessed with showing fellow communist nations and the capitalist world that Romania can be a powerhouse of its own making. But only as long as "the first among the country's miners" was calling the shots for everyone, that is.

 Right after the dictator tasked his underlings with initiating the Dacia project, everything was set in motion. And, just as expected, work did progress quickly. If there was one good thing in communism, it was the way in which any idea the supreme leader came up with was promptly turned to reality with complete disregard to implementation hurdles. Failure made you a weakling, as is considered today by a great deal of individuals who don't know better.

"Ceausescu designated me to mediate the acquisition of a cheap license for the manufacture of a small car from an important automaker from the West," said Mihai Pacepa, "after which we were supposed to steal the rest and start building the first Romanian passenger vehicle," added the hideously underrated head of Romania’s industrial espionage department. Pacepa defected to the US Embassy in Bonn in 1978.

It was evident from the start that communists could never team up with a private company from a Western country, so the solution was found in the nearby "friendly people of France." The antiquated Renault 8, which was about to be discontinued, became the foundation for the infant Romanian automaker.

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By: Mircea Panait

The Pilot crossover is extremely important for American Motor Honda in the United States market. Currently the brand's third best-selling nameplate in this part of the world, the family-sized model was last refreshed in the latter part of 2022. This, in turn, means that Honda is working on a well-deserved facelift.

Expected to drop in the latter half of 2026, the 2027 Honda Pilot has been recently spied testing on American roads with heavy disguise over its front and rear bumpers. The heaviest camouflage is featured on the radiator grille, which sparks hope for a hybrid option. The second-largest Japanese automaker has already confirmed that hybrid oomph is coming.

South Korean automaker Kia is presently finishing development work on its first reasonably priced high-performance electric vehicle. Spied in Germany, the 2026 Kia EV4 GT is coming to a dealership near you in at least one body style. Our spy photographers caught a sedan prototype with large wheels, colorful brake calipers, and performance-oriented rubber.

Rolling on Pirellis from the P Zero Elect line, said prototype further brings the point home with a lime green steering wheel center marker and matching seatbelts. Boasting a GT-specific aerodynamic diffuser and vertical slits in the lower parts of the front bumper, the EV4 GT may generate around 400 horsepower.

When it comes to renderings, the folks at AutoYa have masterfully imagined the 2027 Kia Telluride without any camouflage on its body panels and exterior lighting elements. The renderings are based on the automaker's teaser pictures for the redesigned Telluride, which is coming November 20 with two powertrain choices.

Longer and more upright than its commercially successful predecessor, the second generation will also debut a techier cabin. You only need to step inside the South Korea-made 2026 Hyundai Palisade to understand what is coming to the United States-assembled equivalent from sister brand Kia.

Borrowed from the Carnival, the standard powertrain is widely believed to be a 287-hp naturally aspirated V6 with Smartstream branding. The hybrid, meanwhile, combines two electric motors with a 2.5-liter turbo inline-four lump for a combined 329 horsepower and 339 pound-feet (460 Newton-meters).

By: Bogdan Popa

The demise of the Apple Car project was supposed to reshape Apple's automotive ambitions, pivoting the company to a software strategy that would have turned Apple Maps and CarPlay into the products spearheading its expansion.

This never happened, and Apple has somehow become less committed to improving Apple Maps. The iPhone maker now wants to make Apple Maps even worse, as it's working on bringing ads to its navigation app. The advertisements will be integrated into the search experience, with the first users to start seeing them in 2026.

General Motors shows no mercy for CarPlay, and sooner or later, phone projection will be removed from its cars. The company tried to sweeten this controversial demise with a new statement this week, claiming Android Auto and CarPlay won't disappear overnight. They'll eventually go dark, but this will happen gradually.

Meanwhile, bigger things are happening in the Android Auto space. Google was caught working on several highly anticipated features, including widget support and an updated media card. Both are part of Android Auto 15.6, which you can already download using our manual installation method, and are projected to start rolling out to all devices by the end of the year.

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