√Best look yet at next Toyota HiLux: photo leak of new Toyota Tacoma

Toyota USA has been drip-feeding shadowy teaser images of the new-generation Toyota Tacoma pick-up in recent weeks. Now we know what it really looks like thanks to some cyber-sleuths.

Cyber-sleuths have been able to unearth a photo of the new Toyota Tacoma pick-up by deciphering the URL for the home page of the new hero model – two weeks before Toyota USA is due to take off the covers (19 May 2023).

Although patent images of the new Toyota Tacoma have been in the public domain since January 2023 – and can be seen in our earlier coverage here – the leaked image appears to show the flagship TRD Pro variant or similar.

The image – found by enthusiast website 4thgentacoma.com – shows an aggressive front bumper design for better off-road clearance, wider fender flares, a bulging bonnet, and a blacked-out roof with white bodywork.

As this photo and earlier patent images show, the Toyota Tacoma ‘mid-size’ pick-up looks like a scaled down version of the Toyota Tundra ‘full-size’ pick-up.

Given there appears to be a clear design language for Toyota’s two newest pick-ups, there is an expectation the next Toyota HiLux could follow the same theme.

The Toyota Tacoma – the Japanese car giant’s entrant in the mid-size pick-up market in the US – is the spiritual twin and the closest in size to the Toyota HiLux sold in Australia (classified globally as a ‘compact’ pick-up).

However, the next Toyota HiLux – due mid 2025, pending any delays – is believed to be more closely related to the Toyota Tacoma after Toyota appointed a chief engineer to oversee all three vehicles.

Toyota has been moving to common vehicle platforms (or ‘architectures’) for similar vehicles in its range. And the Toyota HiLux is now part of the same family as Tundra and Tacoma.

Upload the real image of the new Toyota Tacoma and ask artificial intelligence to create a Toyota HiLux, and it delivers the following results.

To be clear, the images below are the creation of artificial intelligence – not us – but they could provide a clue to the design of the next Toyota HiLux, in the absence of any other clear signs.

In the roll-out of Toyota’s three top-selling pick-ups, the US-manufactured Toyota Tundra and Tacoma were first cabs off the rank – ahead of the HiLux, even though it is sold in more countries – because they are high-cost vehicles with the most demands on engineering resources, and are required to meet more stringent safety criteria in North America, particularly for roof-crush thresholds.

While the current-generation Toyota HiLux has a five-star safety rating – after retesting the vehicle mid-2019 to extend its score for a further six years so it does not expire until the end of 2026 – the next-generation model will need to meet even higher crash protection standards than it does today.

In the meantime, the current generation Toyota HiLux – introduced mid-2015 and updated mid-2019 – is expected to soldier-on for at least two more years in Australia.

To stay competitive against newer rivals, Toyota has added two new flagships at the top of the HiLux range – the wide-track Rogue and wide-track GR Sport.

Although both models look like they simply have wider flares and unique bumpers, in fact the changes are more than skin deep.

Toyota fitted wider axles, moved the rear shock absorbers outboard of the chassis rails, revised the front suspension and fitted four-wheel-disc brakes.

Such changes might seem straightforward but in fact they amounted to an extensive and expensive engineering program.

It remains to be seen whether these upgrades will also be applied to the Toyota HiLux SR5 – the biggest selling variant – or whether Toyota can recoup its engineering investment across the top two models only.

As is industry practice, double-cab utes across most brands typically have 10-year model-cycles, with one major update at the half-way mark.

The latest changes to the Toyota HiLux represent the second major engineering overhaul in less than eight years.

Although the latest upgrades to the HiLux were set in motion two to three years ago, the changes can’t come soon enough.

The Toyota HiLux – Australia’s top-selling vehicle for the past seven years in a row – is being belted in the sales race by the new Ford Ranger so far this year, amid chronic production slowdowns.

After finishing second outright in the new-car sales race for the past six years – when 4×2 and 4×4 sales are combined, as is industry practice – the Ford Ranger has outsold the Toyota HiLux every month this year and leads year-to-date.

If the Ford Ranger wins the new-car sales race in 2023, it will be the first time a Ford vehicle has topped the annual sales charts in Australia since the Ford Falcon took the honours in 1995.

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