Next-gen 2025 Toyota HiLux takes shape
Ford Ranger-fighting Toyota ute channels Tundra and LandCruiser design; will deploy diesel hybrid tech tooUPDATED 12/11/2022 8:00am: This article was updated to include new 2025 Toyota HiLux renders featuring the brand's updated design language courtesy of KDesign.
ORIGINAL ARTICLE PUBLISHED 01/11/2022: To call the next-generation Toyota HiLux a ‘crucial’ vehicle for the Japanese brand would be an understatement of colossal proportions.
Sold in 140 countries, the current Toyota HiLux is the number one selling new vehicle in more than a dozen markets – including South Africa, Argentina and Australia – and its replacement is gearing up for an all-out assault on its arch-rival, the just-renewed Ford Ranger.
While the exterior design is still yet to be seen, spied or even leaked, carsales understands that Toyota Australia’s role will be significant in this respect, given the last major facelift was designed by Toyota Australia’s talented design squad and has been very well-received globally.
As these unofficial renders from DigiMods Design and KDesign suggests, the all-new 2024 Toyota HiLux is expected to steal a few design cues from the new Toyota Tundra, which is itself almost certain to be sold in Australia from 2024.
The big, butch grille has rumblings of the full-size Tundra pick-up, while the LED headlight clusters are a much sleeker proposition. At the rear, the vertically-aligned LED tail-lights have a bit of Kia Sorento about them but suit the new HiLux, which will be bigger and more powerful than the current model.
Leveraging an all-new platform based on the same TNGA-F ladder-frame architecture that underpins the Toyota Tundra, Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series and the next Prado that’s set to launch around the same time, the ninth-generation HiLux will have to be very special to set a new yardstick in the ultra-competitive (and increasingly crowded) ute segment.
Indeed, the new V6-powered Ford Ranger continues to cement its position as the benchmark ute in the segment, smashing all rivals in our most recent Best Dual-Cab 4x4 Ute mega-test, and with its all-new Amarok cousin arriving early in 2023 and the next Mitsubishi Triton set to launch in late 2023, the new HiLux will need to be an incredibly accomplished ute just to keep up.
But the new platform architecture underpinning the next Toyota HiLux will not only enhance technology and safety, it will also open the door to several new engine options – chief among them the stump-pulling 3.3-litre twin-turbo diesel V6 (227kW/700Nm) that debuted under the bonnet of the Toyota LandCruiser 300 Series.
A more efficient four-cylinder turbo-diesel engine is tipped to be the mainstay of the new HiLux range and it should out-perform the current 2.8-litre turbo-diesel (150kW/500Nm) that was introduced in 2014 and has been mired in controversy over faulty diesel particulate filters. This resulted in a costly class action that Toyota is now appealing.
The world’s biggest car-maker has made no secret of its desire to deliver hybrid versions of all vehicles in its portfolio by the end of this decade and carsales understands that a mild-hybrid turbo-diesel powertrain will be made available for the HiLux not long after it launches.
Toyota is also investigating hydrogen fuel-cell and/or internal combustion powertrains for the next HiLux and current LandCruiser.
Further intel suggests North America’s next-generation Toyota Tacoma will be much closer mechanically and visually to the new-generation HiLux sold elsewhere, and will both share the same platform. It’s possible they may even be the same vehicle, just with different badges.
Set to undergo considerable testing and development around the globe – and especially in Australia – the next-gen Toyota HiLux will also spawn an all-new, dune-bashing GR HiLux flagship.
Brandishing six-cylinder power, the first-ever GR HiLux is expected to deliver a range of extreme chassis upgrades developed for its Dakar Rally-winning GR DKR HiLux T1+ desert racer.
It's tipped to be the first bona-fide threat to the battle-ready 298kW Ford Ranger Raptor and given the first HiLux broke cover in 1968, it could be timed to commemorate the HiLux’s 60th anniversary in 2028.
Stay tuned for more details as we get them.
Digital Images: Digimods Design, KDesign
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