The toughest Toyota ever? All-new HiLux takes shape alongside its Tacoma cousin

Toyota's incoming HiLux is shaping as the brand's toughest-looking truck to date, with new renders based on the US-market Tacoma revealing a seriously swole dual-cab ute.

And if it looks like this, then models like the Ford Ranger Raptor, Nissan Navara Warrior and Mitsubishi Triton Xtreme will surely be looking over their shoulders.

Now, this is not actually the HiLux you're looking at, rather a new set of renders based off leaked patent images of the Tacoma – our ute's American cousin – which were unearthed by Brazilian media.

Add CarsGuide as a preferred source in Google Search

Add CarsGuide as a preferred source in Google Search

Those renders have been transformed into the image you see above by www.kolesa.ru, giving us our best insight yet into what the new Toyota HiLux will look like.

What's the link between the HiLux and the Tacoma, you ask? The two models are reportedly being developed side by side, and both will share Toyota's TNGA-F platform, along with the Tundra.

With the Tundra now set to launch in Australia – and the popularity of American-truck styling on the rise – it's expected that the HiLux's styling will this time closely mirror that of the all-new Tacoma.

The big question is when.

The all-new Toyota HiLux is expected to debut in 2024, but more likely in 2025, with the fact the brand is about to launch the current-generation HiLux GR Sport suggesting an all-new model is still some way off.

While that model makes use of the most powerful iteration of the HiLux's 2.8-litre turbo-diesel engine – with the power upped to 165kW and 550Nm – it could also be the last time we see a diesel power plant in the HiLux.

In the USA, the new Tacoma is expected to launch with two engine options, the first being a 2.4-litre turbo-petrol good for 198kW and 419Nm.

Patents for the new Tacoma leaked in Brazil.

The new Tacoma is tipped to be offered with two engine options.

The second option, though, has caught our attention. The Tacoma is tipped to launch with the option of an electrified 2.4-litre hybrid that should deliver a diesel-bating 270kW and 550Nm, or thereabouts.

It's the Toyota Hybrid MAX family, and it has just been confirmed for the US-spec Grand Highlander, in which the turbocharged 2.4-litre four-cylinder engine pairs with twin electric motors for a total 266kW and 542Nm.

That powertrain has already been tipped to appear in a new-generation LandCruiser Prado in Japanese reports, so it making its way to a new-generation HiLux would also presumably be on the cards.

That said, we'll have to wait and see. For now, though, the HiLux GR Sport awaits.