The Toyota Hilux Thread

CarExpert insert of the next gen Hilux


Disappointing that this is going to be another iterative update... that means that this is the same platform since the 2005 (IMV)

I guess if it aint broke.... 🤷‍♂️

so still 2.8 and 2.4 GD6 and maybe more widespread 48V with a facelift.

is it too soon to say that there will be some "lunch eating" by the chineses ?
 
Widebody Toyota Hilux Legend 55 confirmed for SA!

It may be slightly late, but the Toyota Hilux Legend 55 will indeed be offered in South Africa. Here’s what we know about this upcoming (widebody!) bakkie so far…

The year 2024 came and went with no sign of a special-edition Hilux Legend derivative (despite some cheeky speculation on our part). Now, Toyota South Africa Motors has finally confirmed that the Hilux Legend 55 – complete with a widebody configuration – is indeed happening.

Revealed in double-cab form (in an interesting new paint colour) at the Japanese firm’s 2025 State of the Motor Industry (SOMI) address at Kyalami in Johannesburg, the new Legend 55 is set to launch as the 5th limited-edition model in this SA-specific quinquennial tradition.

As a reminder, every 5 years since the Legend 35 was released back in 2004, Toyota SA Motors has celebrated both the Hilux’s heritage and crushing sales dominance in the local market with some sort of special Legend model (before the Legend trim became a permanent fixture in 2020).

For whatever reason, the Legend 55 is a year late to the party, with the Legend 50 having hit the market in July 2019 (and the count starting from the Hilux’s local inception in 1969). According to Toyota SA Motors, initial units of the new Hilux Legend 55 are scheduled to be released to local dealerships in July 2025.

Interestingly, Toyota has yet to confirm what’s lurking beneath the Legend 55’s bonnet, though we’re guessing it’s a version of the venerable 2.8-litre turbodiesel engine (whether the motor features the standard 150 kW/500 Nm tune or the likewise-widebody GR-Sport’s loftier 165 kW and 550 Nm outputs remains to be seen).

What we do know, however, is that the Legend 55 will feature a widebody configuration (and “wide-tread suspension”), along with a model-specific styling kit, a revised sportsbar, an underbody bashplate, a towbar, a roller shutter and rubberising for the loadbin.


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Toyota Hilux Legend 55 revealed at SOMI as one of six new products launching in 2025

South African market leader Toyota is cautiously optimistic about the year ahead for the new vehicle industry as a whole.

Speaking at the company’s State of the Motor Industry (SOMI) event held in Midrand on Thursday, Toyota SA CEO Andrew Kirby predicted that the market would return to pre-pandemic levels in 2025.

Kirby said the biggest driver of sales would be interest rates and although the most recent Consumer Price Inflation (CPI) figures are encouraging, the weaker rand seen in January is an inflationary risk that could impact future rate decisions.

“We need substantial changes in interest rates (to drive sales). So what makes this year very difficult to forecast is trying to put a peg in the ground as to how much of a reduction in interest rates we’ll actually experience, and specifically in the first six months of the year,” Kirby said.

“It’s going to take customers a while to get out of their financial predicaments, but if that could happen sooner rather than later, we could see numbers maybe even a bit bigger than our current projections suggest.”

Kirby predicted that the vehicle industry as a whole would see total sales of 535,000 units in 2025, which would be a 3.7% improvement over 2024.


 
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