I don't know how many others have noticed it, but the past few months there has been an abnormal surge in popularity or attention towards the FJ Cruiser. As seen from multiple videos and even news features talking about the FJ Cruiser popping up all over the place. It has me scratching my head as to why this may be. :thinkerg:
In May of this year, Scotty Kilmer, a popular automotive YouTuber, posted a video talking about all the reasons to buy an FJ Cruiser, and he is generally very frank and straight-forward in his views about vehicles, even hyper-critical at times, so I found this to be a big surprise since the mainstream thoughts from most are that the FJ is just not a great fit for people due to all the reasons we've heard a million times. His video now has over 900,000 views!
The next thing that caught my attention, as well as many others was the news report from CNBC, an American news channel, about why Toyota stopped making FJs. This came out July 30th of this year and seemed so odd for a news channel to talk about since it has been 5 years since the discontinuation of the FJ from the North American market. I think multiple people are noticing the surge in off-roading popularity and notice the hole left in Toyota's line-up left by the missing FJ, though the 4Runner and Tacoma are worthy substitutes. This video also has over 900,000 views!
Next, another automotive YouTuber named Doug DeMuro released a video just a couple weeks later on August 13th about why Toyota should bring the FJ Cruiser BACK. Ho goes through an in-depth review of the FJ and states the unique features offered and the highs and lows from an auto design stand point. But overall he decided it would be a good idea for Toyota to bring back such an iconic vehicle. And his video alone has 1.1 million views!
Then the biggest surprise was when the YouTube channel, Donut Media, released their "Everything You Need to Know" video about the FJ Cruiser. This came out just 5 days ago on August 22. I had already been subscribed to their channel and from time to time they make videos that will highlight particular auto manufacturers or models of cars and tell you everything about them. I love these videos and always thought one on the FJ would be fun but figured it wouldn't happen with the model being small in comparison to other way more famous cars, and they had already done a video on the Land Cruiser without mention of the FJ. But then out of no where we get a video talking all about the FJ Cruiser! Wow! And already it has almost 700,000 views in only 5 days!
To me, these recent big-name videos show there may be a subtle upward popularity trend in the FJ Cruiser this year for whatever particular reason. From why people should buy them, to why they are gone, to why they should come back, and then why they are awesome! If there ever was a time for Toyota to make some sort of decision about the return of the FJ, this may be the perfect time to strike! I know there are rumors floating around of the possible production of the TJ Cruiser that have surfaced over the past few days but we all know this model isn't a true predecessor of the FJ. It is more like a boxy minivan that happens to have a similar name, and is no more related to the FJ than a PT Cruiser.
And with the recent announcement of the end of Land Cruisers in 2022 or whenever it was, there is even more of a hole left in Toyota's off-roading lineup. So I suspect over the next few years we may just see beginning of a new off-roader in Toyota's vehicle roster. Fingers crossed that it will even happen or be even close to as awesome as the FJ Cruiser or Land Cruiser.
What do you guys think? Any thoughts as to why there is this random surge in popularity? Or attention rather?
In May of this year, Scotty Kilmer, a popular automotive YouTuber, posted a video talking about all the reasons to buy an FJ Cruiser, and he is generally very frank and straight-forward in his views about vehicles, even hyper-critical at times, so I found this to be a big surprise since the mainstream thoughts from most are that the FJ is just not a great fit for people due to all the reasons we've heard a million times. His video now has over 900,000 views!
The next thing that caught my attention, as well as many others was the news report from CNBC, an American news channel, about why Toyota stopped making FJs. This came out July 30th of this year and seemed so odd for a news channel to talk about since it has been 5 years since the discontinuation of the FJ from the North American market. I think multiple people are noticing the surge in off-roading popularity and notice the hole left in Toyota's line-up left by the missing FJ, though the 4Runner and Tacoma are worthy substitutes. This video also has over 900,000 views!
Next, another automotive YouTuber named Doug DeMuro released a video just a couple weeks later on August 13th about why Toyota should bring the FJ Cruiser BACK. Ho goes through an in-depth review of the FJ and states the unique features offered and the highs and lows from an auto design stand point. But overall he decided it would be a good idea for Toyota to bring back such an iconic vehicle. And his video alone has 1.1 million views!
Then the biggest surprise was when the YouTube channel, Donut Media, released their "Everything You Need to Know" video about the FJ Cruiser. This came out just 5 days ago on August 22. I had already been subscribed to their channel and from time to time they make videos that will highlight particular auto manufacturers or models of cars and tell you everything about them. I love these videos and always thought one on the FJ would be fun but figured it wouldn't happen with the model being small in comparison to other way more famous cars, and they had already done a video on the Land Cruiser without mention of the FJ. But then out of no where we get a video talking all about the FJ Cruiser! Wow! And already it has almost 700,000 views in only 5 days!
To me, these recent big-name videos show there may be a subtle upward popularity trend in the FJ Cruiser this year for whatever particular reason. From why people should buy them, to why they are gone, to why they should come back, and then why they are awesome! If there ever was a time for Toyota to make some sort of decision about the return of the FJ, this may be the perfect time to strike! I know there are rumors floating around of the possible production of the TJ Cruiser that have surfaced over the past few days but we all know this model isn't a true predecessor of the FJ. It is more like a boxy minivan that happens to have a similar name, and is no more related to the FJ than a PT Cruiser.
And with the recent announcement of the end of Land Cruisers in 2022 or whenever it was, there is even more of a hole left in Toyota's off-roading lineup. So I suspect over the next few years we may just see beginning of a new off-roader in Toyota's vehicle roster. Fingers crossed that it will even happen or be even close to as awesome as the FJ Cruiser or Land Cruiser.
What do you guys think? Any thoughts as to why there is this random surge in popularity? Or attention rather?
