THERE is no place for free hugs or touchy-feely nice guys in the world of SUVs in the USA. This is the country that invented road rage, so SUV styling needs to be ultra-macho; bluff, brutal, borderline military-spec. It needs to say: “Tough dude coming through; outta my way.”

And that’s just the women.

Toyota FT-AC concept

It’s the product of Toyota’s Calty design studio in Southern California, and according to Jack Hollis, vice-president and general manager of Toyota’s North American division, it’s sure as hell “not just a concept for concept’s sake”.

Toyota FT-AC concept

It would be built on Toyota’s TNGA platform that currently sits under the Prius hybrid hatch and CH-R compact SUV. Other cars to adopt the new hybrid and battery power-friendly platform include the now fully imported Toyota Camry. In terms of engines, think petrol V6 and a turbo-petrol four.

Toyota FT-AC concept

The exterior features an integrated roof rack system that looks, at first glance, like an extension of the turret, but actually neatly (and aerodynamically) conceals eye hooks and mounting points for bikes or a luggage pod. The rows of LEDs mounted in the forward-facing section of this can be illuminated separately to light up nocturnal park-up party times.

Toyota FT-AC concept

The question is where a production version would sit. Plenty of speculation centres around a RAV4 replacement, but we think it’s way more off-road ready, and Toyota’s own material talks of “a versatile torque-vectoring all-wheel-drive system with variable terrain-response settings, as well as four-wheel lock functionality.” Wheels asked Hollis if it could it fill the space left vacant by the the now defunct FJ Cruiser. “That was really a heritage-type vehicle, so I wouldn’t want to try and place this concept into that space.”

Toyota FT-AC concept

But if you really want to understand the target audience for the FT-AC, just take close look at the those cameras mounted in the exterior mirrors. They can detach so they can turn around and point at you-know-who. Teamed with the Wi-Fi hotspot, they allow you to stream your journey live, or capture footage for instant editing. And just because it’s pitch black outside doesn’t mean your vital social media updates need to stop. They also have an infra-red function for middle-of-the-night party times, all making the FT-AC a rolling selfie machine for the Instagram generation. Of course … was this ever in doubt?