An update is due for Toyota NZ’s top-selling vehicle five years into its model life.

BESPOKE versions of Hilux tailored in New Zealand are likely to be offered.

Production of special, perhaps even one-off, editions will be undertaken by Toyota New Zealand at its Signature Series facility at Thames, which started out as an assembly plant but now operates as a refurbishment centre for used import and ex-fleet and rental NZ-new product.

The Palmerston North-centred national new vehicle sales leader says any such models would be to special order and specified above the current SR5 Cruiser.

What has inspired the programme is positive customer reaction to a flamboyant design study the distributor commissioned, chief operating officer Neeraj Lala says.

Based on a 4WD double cab Hilux SR5 and unveiled at the 2017 Mystery Creek Fieldays, the Gladiator (below) carried around $65,000 worth of modifications and accessories. It remained in TNZ’s fleet for two years before being auctioned in December, 2019, the new owner being a Taupo man who bid $81,000 and also traded a Landcruiser in on it.

Says Lala: “We figure there’s an opportunity to do more of this. It’s taking Hilux back to its roots, because there’s long been a tradition of individuals doing big improvements their Toyota utes.”

Further information about the special edition programme is to be aired when TNZ also breaks silence on what is coming with a big mid-life facelift for the current generation Hilux.

What’s set to arrive is far more extensive than the 2018 update that improved TNZ’s strongest-selling product in 2019, with around 7000 registrations.

Toyota Japan plans an international announcement on May 21.

The upgrade is expected to include substantial cosmetic changes plus a re-powering of the 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbodiesel, which currently develops 130kW of power and 450Nm of torque in automatic form and 130kW/420Nm in manual, and revisions to improve the diesel particulate filter.

It is also expected to receive mild revisions to the interior that will include an upgraded infotainment system that includes Apple Car Play and Android Auto.

Lala says he can offer no comment until May 21, explaining “we are bound by an embargo.

What has particularly excited media are renderings that have been bounced around the internet for weeks that appear to expose the facelift design.

Purportedly sourced from an independent global Toyota exporter, Milele Motors, and based on leaked internal documents, the images suggest the upgrade delivers new LED headlamp design, a larger front grille inspired by US truck styling and revisions to the Hilux’s rear, plus new 18-inch alloy wheels at the high end and 17s for the outright workhorses.

Beyond those images, there has been further intense speculation that Toyota is also entertaining with this update a new GR – for Gazoo Racing – variant featuring a twin-turbo V6 diesel making perhaps 200kW/650Nm if not more.

One national provider has become particularly fixated, with speculation repeated as recently as yesterday, apparently based on musing published by an Australian online outlet.

Fake news?

“New Zealand is not going to get a V6 twin-turbocharged diesel-powered Hilux ute,” says Lala.

The NZ outlet’s stories have resulted in TNZ’s call centre being hit by inquiry from customers asking what other information was available. Lala wishes the writer would simply pick up the phone and talk to him.

One big drivetrain revision that is set to involve with the current ute, but won’t be included in the facelift, is adoption of hybrid technology.

“We’re committed to focussing on lowering exhaust emissions throughout our vehicle fleet, and that includes the Hilux ute,” says Lala.

“So far Toyota Motor Corporation has produced 15 million hybrids, so we know how to build them.

“In New Zealand we are already selling hybrids that can tow – the RAV4 SUV – so it’s no big step to acknowledge that a hybrid will feature in the current model lineup some time in the next 12 to 18 months.”

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