Each month, the Australian car media pushes out the top-selling vehicle lists, with various models hoping to topple the Toyota Corolla for the crown of Australia’s favourite car. Well, that data ignores commercial vehicles. That fact tends to blur the fact that utes are unbelievably popular, and very important to the car manufacturers.
Among utes, it’s the Toyota HiLux that is the undisputed king of the sales charts. Toyota have taken the success for granted for many years—and as a result, many challengers have eyed off the commercial crown. A utility war has broken out in 2015: there’s a brand-new Triton (watch our Mitsubishi Triton review here), an all-new Nissan Navara, and an updated Ford Ranger, all intended to be HiLux beaters.
To fend off the rivals, Toyota will release a new HiLux later this year for the first time in ten years. But with that car still months away, we borrowed what you can actually buy today: a HiLux SR5 dual-cab with the three-litre turbodiesel, to determine whether you should snap up a seventh-generation HiLux when they shift to runout pricing.
We found a truck that’s undeniably rough around the edges from ten years in the market: in comfort and refinement, the HiLux is a step behind, given the leaps and bounds in these areas in recent years. However, in terms of liveability, reliability and all-round performance, it’s easy to see why the Toyota still sells in huge numbers. The HiLux remains a very likeable and dependable truck.
ChasingCars.com.au borrowed this vehicle for our Toyota HiLux review:
- 2015 Toyota HiLux SR5 (top trim), with the 3.0-litre turbodiesel four-cylinder (126kW/360Nm) and five-speed automatic, in Silver Sky, with black cloth, priced at $54,490 before on-road costs.
