If the Ford F-150 is America’s truck, the Toyota Hilux is the world’s truck. Even though it hasn’t been available in North America since the mid-1990s, it’s an unstoppable force that sells by the boatload. We’ve seen it conquer both poles, and prove its toughness on both primetime TV and the six o’clock news. Now there’s a new one, and it seems to be leaning hard on the concept of choice.
At first glance, the new Hilux seems to be evolutionary rather than revolutionary. Up front, Toyota’s global pickup truck gets a variant of the new family face with a dark trim piece spanning in the gap between the headlights, either a hole-punched grille or a dimpled filler panel, and loads of sharp angles and creases. This general chiseling continues with the angular wheel arches and stamped tailgate, although the cab seems roughly similar to what we’ve seen for the past decade or so. Those not-quite-Chevrolet-like steps in the corners of the rear bumper are incredibly useful though, a more-than-welcome addition.
In contrast, the interior of the new Hilux is quite different in a good way, because new tech has opened up new opportunities for storage. Okay, so the new floating touchscreen display means you no longer get a nostalgic LCD clock, but it also means there’s more room on the dashboard for extra cubbies without ditching physical climate controls. If you’re getting a whiff of Land Cruiser from the interior, you can thank the largely flat dash pad and familiar steering wheel for that.
Toyota’s leaning on choice right now, so guess what? The new Hilux will be available with almost every sort of motive power imaginable, kicking things off with a surprisingly normal-seeming battery electric variant. A 59.2 kWh battery pack slung between the frame rails powers two electric motors, resulting in some rather modest figures. Peak output stands at a hair over 193 horsepower, and WLTP range should work out to just 149 miles. Not exactly game-changing stuff and not ideal for towing, but as a work vehicle in South Asia’s most populous cities, maybe that’s all most customers need. Even though towing capacity’s a crossover-like 3,527 pounds, payload clocks in at 1,576 pounds. Plus, with DC fast charging at up to 150 kW, it should be easier to juice up the electric Hilux than the hydrogen fuel cell variant expected to arrive in 2028. If the level of normalcy on display here seems familiar, that’s because the Hilux BEV thematically follows the Ford F-150 Lightning in going truck-first, electric-second. It doesn’t look like a cut-up crossover, so it’s unlikely to alienate buyers.
That being said, the majority of ninth-generation Hilux sales will likely burn fossil fuels, and the 2.8-liter 1GD-FTV turbodiesel inline-four will rule the roost. It’s been around for a decade and pumps out the same 201 horsepower and 369 lb.-ft. of torque as it did in the old Hilux. With 2,205 pounds of payload capacity and 7,716 pounds of towing capacity, it’s the move for serious work. A mild-hybrid diesel variant will soon join the party for Europe, and for those who prefer spark ignition, a familiar 2.7-liter four-cylinder gasoline engine is also on the options list.
Speaking of proven technology, the choice of a six-speed automatic or six-speed manual isn’t revolutionary, but both of these transmissions should be stout. People buy the Hilux because it has a reputation for being unbreakable, and with these major powertrain components already known to be durable, it just makes sense for Toyota to give drivers what they want. That includes two-wheel-drive or four-wheel-drive, a crew cab or a single cab, or even an access cab, and even hydraulic or electric power steering, depending on the market.
Whether with fossil fuel or electric power, the Hilux’s largely familiar form and an almost overwhelming array of options should still be all things to all people, provided said people don’t live in America. Even better, Toyota’s promising a short lead time. The first examples will roll off the line relatively early in the new year, with European-market models launching in the first half of 2026. Sure, it’s not a revolutionary truck, but such a big swing would just feel wrong. The Hilux has long been a known quantity, and judging by the look of the new one, it shouldn’t have a hard time finding hundreds of thousands of homes each year across the globe.
Top graphic image: Toyota
In fairness, it’s not as butt ugly uber-macho as the 2025 Tacoma for the North American market. I’d take a crew cab 4×4 mild hybrid diesel if I could. Dream on, little broomstick cowboy…
I found out that the new Hilux was designed by Toyota Australia, and as an Australian, I’d just like to say, sorry world.
I generally think that most people here are way to critical of new car/truck designs these days but this one I can’t abide. It looks like a Temu Colorado. Horrendous looking vehicle.
Slight correction, nobody in South Asia is driving a Hilux, it’s way too expensive. This is popular in South EAST Asia, primarily in Thailand where it is built and exported to the rest of the world.
Toyota has a complicated and conflicting set of requirements for making the Hilux.
All three points are in direct conflict of each other.
Toyota’s primary markets are first and foremost Thailand, then Australia, then the rest of the world at a very distant third.
Thai people want a luxurious car with all the bells and whistles under the sun that’s cheaper than the Corolla. Australians want a capable 4×4 that also handles well in the corners and on long distances. The rest of the world just wants a box on wheels.
As for the “terrible” Travo-e, the only reason it exists is to shut up all the critics asking for an EV Hilux while also serving as a manufacturing quota for Toyota Motor Thailand import the BZ4X without tariffs. That’s all.
Anyone with any kind of common sense knows that a body-on-frame pickup truck is never going to get any meaningful range with a 60-100 kwh battery. If they put a 120 kwh battery to get that range, it would cost too much and people will then complain about the price.
If I was a billionaire, I’d try manufacturing a car and make continue making changes until internet comments stop criticizing/demanding for more features. I wonder what kind of car we would end up with.
But Thailand gets a great Hilux that’s built in Thailand.
https://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Toyota_Hilux_Champ
Not this thing.
Remember when trucks just had 2 headlights, a rectangular grill, and a bumper?
I know the WLTP range was the one released to the press, but at least put a note or asterisk on it. 149 on the WLTP =/= 149 real driving miles.
That’s a severely limited range for any EV let alone a truck
WLTP of 149 means low 100s in real world use. Totally useless.
The other powertrains are carry over (as is the entire truck) so this is really more of a heavy facelift.
Agreed – a very lazy one at that! They will still sell boat-loads…
Can we please have the Bishop for a makeover of this grotesque front? And an article from Jason about how sad or angry the car faces are these days?
It will probably be the world’s Ford Lightning and have the sales numbers of the Ford Lightning to match.
If it does it will be because of the range/power and not because it’s an EV. The US is quickly becoming the only major world country that is not fast shifting to BEVs.
Japan is also falling behind, just like they lost the market of HDTVs largely to Korea, they are also losing the EV market to China and Korea.
https://www.spglobal.com/automotive-insights/en/blogs/2025/10/ev-adoption-rates-how-us-and-other-markets-compare-2025
Range is the main reason why EV trucks fail for the private customer. (Charging time is a very close second.) Why have an EV truck if it can’t pull the sleds to the trailhead?
True. I bought a Silverado EV WT and it solves the range problem. I think it’s better than just about every truck on the road esp given that I paid much below list because nobody wanted it.
Today’s work trucks are the luxury trucks of the Seventies and Eighties. Truly underestimated.
I have adaptive cruise with lane departure correction and a ton of other stuff. I am missing heated seats and power adjustments. I have little to complain about.
They should incorporate steps in the front bumpers too so that it would be easier for the insurgents to ride on the hood.
As a card carrying member of the Somali Technicals Owners Club, I approve of this message.
It looks fucking awful. Like someone pressing their cheeks up with their hands awful looking.
Hyundai Tazman says, “Hold my beer, mate!”
“it should be easier to juice up the electric Hilux than the hydrogen fuel cell variant expected to arrive in 2028″
WHY???
WHY are they bothering with a hydrogen fuel cell variant?
Certainly their experience with the sales of the Mirai should mean that anyone with half-a-brain would know that hydrogen cars are DOA and are a complete waste of time and money.
Was this decision done by someone with a quarter of a brain (or less)????
my guess on the continued hydrogen push for passenger vehicles is just continued hubris from Akio Toyoda. Quarter of a brain seems about right to me…
I know at one point there was a big push from the Japanese government too, which is why so many of the FC vehicles come from Japanese manufacturers.
Toyota owns the Hino heavy duty truck brand along with other industries that aren’t a good fit for electric.
It is far less expensive to work on developing more efficient and longer lasting fuel sell membranes with Mirai and Hilux sized vehicles than with a Hino Ranger.
“ and longer lasting fuel sell membranes”
I disagree that fuel cells are longer lasting on average than modern battery packs. And they are definitely not more efficient either.
Matter of fact, one of the biggest challenges with fuel cells was getting them to last longer.
You misunderstood what I was saying.
Companies are working to develop longer lasting and more efficient fuel cell membranes. For companies that are working on fuel cells it is MUCH less expensive to do the work with car sized ones than HD truck sized ones. Even better if they can get someone to buy or lease that vehicle and cover some of the development costs.
Nothing to do with FCEV vs BEV
Fuel cell development funds (at one time likely still true today) flow freely from the Japanese federal govt.. this is a matter of geo-politics as any major Japanese company is not too keen to tie themselves at the hip to China for lots of historical and geopolitical reasons.
China Solidly controls BEV 2nd tier suppliers, batteries especially at greater than 70% of the entire world market.
Therefore any tech that can have a claim (even if false) of one day being more efficient and more green than gasoline, that also isn’t financially controlled by another major power that you happen to not exactly have a pretty historical relationship with is going to looked upon fondly
That’s a tall order. AFAIK Japan’s neighbors still haven’t forgiven them for nor forgotten anything the empire did from 1931-1945. If Japan wants to be energy independent I think their best bet is renewables and nuclear which would explain somewhat the push for hydrogen.
Because the hydrogen version will produce enough potable water to hydrate the company riding in it. (Already proven with the Chevy Colorado Hydrogen model for our military)
Hydrogen doesn’t make a lot of sense in the US where a very large percentage of car buyers live in single-family homes and can plug-in an EV at home over night. But in Asia, the majority of car buyers aren’t able to charge at home and EV charging becomes much more cumbersome for the average car buyer. I think this is the reason why Toyota keeps pursuing hydrogen, because they don’t see a viable path for EV ownership for a very large swath of their market.
It really looks like 3 different vehicles were grafted together. The kind of thing you would see from Hyundai a decade ago or the Chinese a few years ago.
There is logic in the bev version with cities in Asia starting to have ice bans it still seems like sales would be completely on reputation and probably not wanting a Chinese vehicle.
Looks a bit too big and heavy to serve in the “go anywhere” capacity that was key to the old Hilux’s widspread use.
I took the liberty of Photoshopping what this new one might look like with a bit of exercise and a healthy diet, which I will attempt to link to as a gif. (My apologies to the moderators for my previous attempt to embed the image directly, which resulted in a terrible mess!)
Looks like it is hiking up its skirt!
Or how it should have looked in the 1st place.
This “real” version looks very portly
So, NSFW then.
Looks much better, now maybe lower it four inches?
After all the hemming and hawing that Toyota did over entering the EV market, you’d think they would have chosen one of the more impactful and potentially successful segments rather than one of the worst performing
I think this shows that Toyota understands the market right now. EV trucks don’t work for normal consumers because they typically use the truck features for pleasure including long-distance towing and going places a little more off the grid. Current EV technology means the resulting truck has a huge battery and is very expensive. Consumers still don’t want them, though, and they are too expensive for fleets.
However, EV trucks make a whole lot of sense for fleets, especially in urban environments. These trucks just need to haul stuff to and from the worksites every day, and then can recharge overnight on level 1 or 2 chargers. Toyota’s idea for offering this truck with a relatively small battery is targeting fleet use. The smaller battery hopefully keeps the costs down for fleet buyers, while also meeting their daily needs.
this is nearly the exact argument for EV delivery vans, and that market is collapsing due to a lack of demand
What’s great about modern full-sized pick-ups is how the headlights are around 4 feet off the ground. /s
They really need drop step-ladders to check the oil. Minor oversight.
Why so many grilles and vents for an EV?
And why does it have to be so ugly?
Because the parts are already there for the ICE version and it’s much cheaper. As for the looks, the Hilux has never been a looks winner, but I feel like that has been a part of its identity.
Hilux was an attractive truck well into the early 2000s – Even the 8th and 9th gen were not outright ugly.
There’s enough triangles on the front of that truck to make a badge-engineered Hyundai,
Can’t explain the front end. It’s like it was stolen from a completely different and vastly larger truck. Also from the current fetish for no bumpers.
Man, that front end is terrible. Maybe it’s the squinty headlights combined with the too-tall frontal area. Woof.
Hi-Luxes have never been lookers (at least since the 90’s) but these will still sell like hotcakes. Toyota could put a SsangYong Rodius face on it and it wouldn’t matter.
I mean, the Tacoma Front end would likely fit fine if they decided to make it US bound. Of course the Safety Nannies and Taxes on Chickens would make this uncomfortably expensive to import. Though I do wonder why the boxed frame and basic drivetrain and interior options could not perhaps make it to the Tacoma options list. Sure it would suck to have to choke the diesel off with US EGR systems, but it would be kind of bad ass to get a Tacoma that could tow 8K and get 30-40 mpg with a trans that does not shudder to find the correct gears.
Bc of the chicken tax All trucks (that I know of) sold in the USD market are made here.
Toyota trucks (sold in the US) I think are made in Tx
Hence the reason an actual hilus would be expensive to import. even in CKD form like the old Transit Connects from Spain. but had toyota been shrewd about it , they could very well have made frames that interchanged and trans tunnels that would accept hilux drivetrains. Hell I still feel like hard mounting points for IFS suspensions could be design with a Straight Axle option with minimal effort.
From memory the transit connect sold in the US was made in Turkey and Ford was able to get by the chicken tax bc they shipped all the commercial transit connects with a 3rd row bench seat and claimed.they were passenger vans. Then of course removed the 3rd row seat.
Which I would love it if that were true.
100% agree sadly importing any truck in to the USD mkt is not economically competitive & I do like your idea above, the more interchangeable parts between models the cheaper to produce and (hopefully) the savings get passed on to the consumer
The rear seats were barely legal temp setups that were promptly removed and converted to light truck vehicles. This cost Ford 365 million for the tariff engineering scheme.
Ha I am now ‘today days old when finding out Ford fined $365M for getting creative due to an incredibly old & outdated tariff that limits Americans choices in light duty truck products for sale in USD…
https://www.justice.gov/archives/opa/pr/ford-motor-company-agrees-pay-365m-settle-customs-civil-penalty-claims-relating
I wonder if it would matter these days, I am not sure the tariff rates for both light duty and passenger vehicles are that much different after the current administration mucked around with the tariffs.
And Scotus seems to be of the mind since the current US tariffs Are being used as revenue generation they Are taxes amd therefore unconstitutional to be creates by the executive branch as congress owns power of the purse…
It will be interesting to see in their final ruling if that is what the court rules
Ironically, Ford makes the Maverick in Mexico.
Which under the N.American Free trade agreement made complete (dollars &) cents
In fact Financially the N.American Free trade agreement made financial sense for USA. CANADA & Mexico
Though can’t have it now bc it wasnt the orange baby’s idea
Some truth to all of this. Canada made cheap energy, US companies in theory at least had the intellectual rights and knowledge base to produce stuff, and Mexico had Maquiladora wage controlled workbase.
Lots of this unraveled when the people buying the now less inflated products could no longer do this because they were the people making them and demanding “Living Wages”. Now that the labor market has turned the corner as far as needs, lots of basic laborer’s are likely struggling to find work and thus don’t have pay to buy the stuff anyway.
This will be the same thing that occurs with a lot of AI powered stuff coming down the pike, but it will be the white collars that get the axe and cannot afford things more so this time I feel like.
Toyota car designer #1: Hey, have you seen the new Tacoma? It has got the worst face I have ever seen on a truck!
Toyota car designer #2: Hold my beer
Still wish we go the Hilux!
Foton has had an EV version of a HiLux clone for a number of years. I don’t think that the range is great but it does the job for a lot of markets.
I’d sure like to see Toyota take all the money and brainpower they’re pointing at hydrogen and redirect all of it to BEV.
They should take that turbo-diesel and slap it in the Tacoma.
Box the frame and use the 6 speed trans too.
We need fewer diesels, not more.
Well, it has the massive frontal area motif going for modern trucks with all the appeal of a snow plow blade.