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27/10/2008
By EWAN KENNEDY
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HiLux may not be the most glamorous vehicle in the Toyota range, but it’s one of the major sellers and has dominated its market segment for years. Indeed, it actually managed to be the number-one vehicle in overall sales in Australia in May this year. That’s overall, not just in its class.
Toyota Australia has obviously noticed that Isuzu D-Max is now on sale in Australia. While that ute may not be particularly well known here, it is big player in many other countries, especially in Asia. Up there, the HiLux and D-Max go like it hammer and tongs in the sales race, sometimes one wins, sometimes the other.
 So it makes a lot of sense for Toyota to upgrade the HiLux in an attempt to head off the challenge in Australia. This has seen a modest facelift, but one that updates the appearance sufficiently to be noticed by those who love their utes. There's a new shape to the radiator grille, the air intake in the lower grille has been enlarged as part of a new front bumper design, and the headlights now have clear lenses. The idea is to give HiLux a family resemblance to the Toyota SUVs. A smart move because these days a surprising number of utes, particularly dual cabs, are bought as family cars.
Complementing the new frontal appearance is a new design of accessory bull bar that further toughens up the appearance. Not only providing protection from wandering bulls, but also giving careless parkers something to think about.
Suspension changes are said to give a better ride, though we haven’t yet road tested one of the just announced upgraded models so we will have to reserve judgement. At the same time the brakes have been enlarged and ABS is an option on some variants.
Biggest news of all to those who do a lot of hard-grind city and suburban driving is that the entry-level HiLux WorkMate now comes with the option of an automatic transmission, a fairly old four-speed unit, but one that matches the ruggedness of the vehicle.
The upgrade to the petrol engines in the HiLux range gives them Euro IV emission compliance.
At the other end of the HiLux lineup, the top grade 4WD SR5 models sport a 15-inch alloy wheel design. There's a new design chromed and grey radiator grille replacing the body-coloured grille. All SR5s now have audio and other controls on the leather-bound steering wheel while the double cab SR5 gets a handy cruise control setup.
 As well as these visual and technical upgrades there are other minor changes to the HiLux range, bringing it up to a staggering model range of 32. These include HiLux 4x2 and 4x4 variants. May we suggest a visit to your local Toyota dealer to see the range and the adjustments to the specification list in all its detail?
Despite the changes to the value of the Australian dollar, Toyota Australia has managed to keep price increases to an average of just one per cent. Indeed, to give the WorkMate a boost in the aforementioned battle against D-Max, its price remains unchanged at $17,990 in single cab, 4x2 cab chassis format. Automatic transmission adds a further $2000.
The HiLux 4x2 ute range starts at $24,340 for a manual SR 4.0-litre petrol single cab with the most expensive model being the $42,180 4.0-litre petrol SR5 double cab with automatic transmission. A 3.0-litre turbo-diesel double cab SR ute costs $29,690.
Four-wheel drive models go from $32,790 for a manual 4.0-litre petrol single cab cab-chassis to $53,080 for a 3.0-litre turbo-diesel SR5 automatic double cab ute. |
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