The Isuzu D-Max V-Cross has so far been the undisputed king of the lifestyle pickup truck segment in India but that's primarily because there still aren't many players matching its credentials in our market. Well! That will likely change soon with the oncoming of the new Toyota Hilux that goes on sale in India in March this year. It's one pickup truck that has left its mark in over 180 countries in the last 50 years with over 20 million units being sold since inception. And in its latest avatar, it becomes even more desirable boasting its new swanky looks, plusher cabin, upmarket features, a mighty engine, robust 4x4 creds and its built-to-last DNA. Here's what we know about the upcoming Toyota Hilux.
The Toyota Hilux shares quite a lot with the Toyota Fortuner including its underpinnings and engine options. It is spawned by the IMV-2 platform that underpins both the Fortuner and Innova Crysta.
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The Toyota Hilux doesn't look just a pickup version of the Fortuner and has its own identity. In fact if anything, you get a Innova Crysta sense in the larger hexagonal grille but other than that, it looks entirely new and that family face is not very predominant. The massive grille is flanked by sweptback LED headlamps with LED DRLs that look very stylish. The new bumper too looks very tall and angular and gels well with its butch face. Then the 18-inch alloy wheels, flared wheel arches, side-step, body cladding very aptly maintain that rugged sense that make a SUV so desirable and elements like LED taillights and blacked out wing mirrors and pillar add to its urban appeal.
The Toyota Hilux comes well-loaded with creature comforts.
Now it's on the inside where the Hilux seems very relatable to the Toyota Fortuner facelift currently on sale in the Indian market. It gets an all-black cabin where the layout seems inspired by the Fortuner's interior. In terms of creature comforts it gets an 8.0-inch touchscreen infotainment system that supports Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, an eight-speaker JBL sound system, ventilated seats, cruise control, eight-way electrically adjustable front seats, app-based connected car tech, dual-zone climate control and wireless charger among others.
Under the hood, the Toyota Hilux will source the same 2.8-litre, four-cylinder, diesel engine from the Fortuner that develops 201 bhp and 420 Nm of peak torque in the manual variant, while the automatic variant makes 500 Nm of peak torque.
Toyota will be offering the Hilux only in the 4x4 versions with both low and high ratios.
The carmaker will be offering the Hilux only in the 4x4 versions with both low and high ratios and the SUV comes equipped with all drive-assist features that we expect in an off-roader including hill-assist, brake assist, hill descent control and electronic stability program (ESP), limited-slip differential, differential lock and has water wading capacity of 700 mm.
The Toyota Hilux will be sold in India as a SKD unit and will be locally assembled at Toyota's Bidadi plant in Karnataka with a localisation level of 30 per cent.
The Toyota Hilux will be offered in five body colour options including the new 'Emotional Red' which is the new signature colour. The company will also offer the Hilux only in the double-cab bodystyle in India.
