Who: Australia’s best-selling car company
What: Australia’s second favourite ute
When: Late 2025
Why: Because it’s finally time for a new model after 10 years
Toyota is not used to coming second. And yet that’s precisely where it finds itself in the pecking order for Australia’s favourite ute, with the once dominant HiLux now fighting tooth and nail against the Ford Ranger.
Toyota will be looking to change that in 2025 with the arrival of an all-new HiLux model, the first since 2015. Officially the brand is staying silent on what to expect with the new model, Toyota Australia boss Sean Hanley wouldn’t even confirm if it will reach showrooms by the end of next year when we quizzed him at Bathurst, but there has been plenty of speculation and there are some logical conclusions we can draw.
For starters, there’s the platform the new HiLux will be built on. Again, without any official confirmation it’s just speculation but the new TNGA-F ladder frame chassis is expected to form the foundation of the new HiLux. While an upgraded version of the current chassis remains a possibility, TNGA-F is already used for the LandCruiser 300 as well as the Tundra and smaller Tacoma utes in the USA as well as the incoming LandCruiser Prado.
Using the TNGA-F over an upgraded version of the current platform would help bring the HiLux forward by at least a decade, providing a better position to compete against the Ranger as well as the new Mitsubishi Triton and upcoming new-generation Nissan Navara. Ute buyers expected a more polished package and using TNGA-F would help provide that.
Under the bonnet Toyota is expected to continue to offer a diesel option that suits its core customers, but the brand’s i-Force Max petrol-electric hybrid powertrain is also expected to be offered. This new set-up pairs a 2.4-litre turbocharged petrol engine with an electric motor integrated into the eight-speed transmission, with the system working together to produce 243kW of power and 630Nm of torque.
The biggest unknown at the moment is how seriously Toyota will go after the Ranger’s flagship model, the high-performance Raptor. Toyota has previewed an attempt at a more dynamic version of the HiLux with the GR Sport, but it fell well short of directly challenging the Ranger Raptor.
A new-generation model, particularly one based on the TNGA-F platform, would allow Toyota to build a proper HiLux GR to take on the Raptor. Such a model wouldn’t arrive initially though, which means it could arrive in 2026, perfectly timed to match the brand’s entry in Supercars competition with its heavy promotion of the Gazoo Racing brand.
Crucially, don’t expect Toyota to follow Ford’s top-heavy path, that sees its focus on its more premium Raptor, Wildtrak and XLT models. Instead Toyota will likely continue to offer simple, affordable models, like its popular Workmate.
Expect the new HiLux to be revealed early in 2025, possibly at the Bangkok Motor Show in March (as the HiLux will continue to be built in Thailand), which would put it on course to land in local showrooms later in the year.
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