Ford Australia engineers have been caught conducting evaluation testing of the left-hand-drive-only Toyota 4Runner off-road SUV on Melbourne roads.
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The Toyota 4Runner off-road SUV has been spied undergoing evaluation testing in Melbourne – but the brand has confirmed it isn't involved with the car's surprise appearance in Australia.
Instead, the spied 4Runner appears to be undergoing benchmarking by Ford Australia, which told Drive its Melbourne-based design and engineering team evaluates a "wide range of vehicles from both local and international markets".
A Toyota Australia spokesperson told Drive the left-hand drive 4Runner 'engineering evaluation vehicle' spotted in Australia is "not being evaluated" by the company.
The 4Runner was ruled out for Australia when the current-generation model was unveiled in 2024, due to its left-hand-drive-only status, despite being built in Japan alongside the related LandCruiser Prado 250 Series.
Its Victorian registration – 2CR-7WU – is sandwiched between several Ford cars registered in late 2025, and a similar combination has appeared on company-owned vehicles.
The vehicle was also seen turning westbound onto the Metropolitan Ring Road, which would lead toward Ford's Asia Pacific Product Development Centre in Campbellfield, Victoria, situated about eight kilometres from where it was spotted in Thomastown.
"Ford Australia’s Melbourne-based Design and Engineering Teams acquire and evaluate a wide range of vehicles from both local and international markets as part of our standard benchmarking processes," a Ford Australia spokesperson told Drive.
"This helps to ensure we maintain a clear understanding of evolving technologies, customer expectations and competitive offerings."
It is unclear why Ford is benchmarking the 4Runner in Australia, rather than the US, but it is likely connected to future developments of the Bronco or Everest, which, in their current forms, share their T6 body-on-frame platform with the Ranger ute.
The design and development of the current Ranger and Everest were led by the Ford Asia Pacific Product Development Centre in Melbourne, and local engineers were involved in the Bronco in the late 2010s due to its shared platform.
US media outlets suggest the next-generation Bronco is due around 2030, while Ford's luxury brand Lincoln is said to be developing a body-on-frame SUV related to the Bronco to slot between the Aviator and Navigator, set to launch around 2028.
Meanwhile, the Everest was spied undergoing testing in the US late last year, but it is unlikely to be sold there – at least in its current generation – due to overlap with the Bronco and the Explorer.
Toyota's 4Runner is essentially an SUV version of the Tacoma ute, and shares its TNGA-F body-on-frame platform with the Prado 250, LandCruiser 300 and Tundra.
The 4Runner spied in Australia appears to be the 207kW/430Nm 2.4-litre turbo four-cylinder petrol Limited grade, without Toyota's 'performance hybrid' system, and matched with an eight-speed automatic transmission.
Marketed by Toyota as 'iForce Max' in the United States, a 'performance hybrid' system is available as an option on the 4Runner – but standard on the US-market LandCruiser 250 Series – adding 36kW and 200Nm of electric assistance for a total of 243kW and 630Nm.
The 4Runner is identical to the LandCruiser Prado 250 Series and LandCruiser 300 Series in wheelbase, at 2850mm.
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Jordan is a motoring journalist based in Melbourne with a lifelong passion for cars. He has been surrounded by classic Fords and Holdens, brand-new cars, and everything in between from birth, with his parents’ owning an automotive workshop in regional Victoria. Jordan started writing about cars in 2021, and joined the Drive team in 2024.
