Toyota HiLux 2018 range expansion: Rogue, Rugged and Rugged X models explained

CarsGuide has been behind closed doors at Toyota Australia’s design headquarters in Melbourne, with the Japanese company showing off its local nous with a sneak preview of three new Toyota HiLux 2018 models before they hit local showrooms later in April.

The Toyota HiLux 2018 model range expansion sees the addition of three new variants – the most affordable of which being the SR-based Rugged, while there are two different flavours of SR5-based flagship models, the Rugged X and Rogue.

The Toyota HiLux 2018 model range expansion sees the addition of three new variants – the most affordable being the SR-based Rugged.

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There are two different flavours of SR5-based flagship models, the Rugged X and Rogue.

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The Rugged and Rugged X models are designed and developed for Australia only.

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At the event, Toyota Australia product planning and development general manager, Rod Ferguson, indicated that the reasoning for offering two different models at the top of the range was because a ‘one size fits all’ approach wouldn’t have met the needs of different buyers in the dual-cab ute market.

“What we’ve seen with the people buying these vehicles is the splitting of emotional and functional,” Ferguson said.

“So we have people spend more than $2000 on the average HiLux in accessories, and there are people out there who are willing to spend more to accessorise their vehicle. And there are people there that want a higher level of class.

“We’ve chosen to offer a Y strategy – one arm with an emotional side, the other with a functional side – and we reckon both of those are going to be sizeable additional markets for the HiLux moving forward,” Ferguson said.

How big will those additional markets be? Toyota – as always – wasn't going to discuss sales numbers ahead of time, but it is entirely feasible that the additional models will help see the HiLux breach the 50,000 sales mark in 2018. That’d be a jump of at least six per cent, based on 2018’s record sales figure of 47,093 units.

It’s not like the new models aren’t playing in the sandpit that buyers want to be in: the SR5 dual-cab accounted for about half of all sales in 2017 for the brand, so offering two models off the top of that makes perfect sense.

The Rugged X is clearly the one Toyota thinks will have the biggest additional impact on sales, with the company making it the centrepiece of its display to media at the event. Indeed, Ferguson stated that the model we saw as a pre-production version is “very similar to the first prototype” that the company developed early on in the process.

The SR5 dual-cab accounted for about half of all sales in 2017 for the brand.

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The Rugged X is clearly the one Toyota thinks will have the biggest additional impact on sales.

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“Show me what you can do to make this thing as tough as it can be”

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The pre-production version is “very similar to the first prototype” that the company developed early on in the process.

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Towing - a maximum braked capacity of 3.2 tonnes for the automatic and 3.5 tonnes for the manual.

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The red tow hooks are logically placed, and the paint helps them stand out.

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It looks as if Toyota has bought as a stock SR5, then been to an aftermarket supplier with a blank chequebook and an attitude of “show me what you can do to make this thing as tough as it can be”, with an integrated steel front bar with built-in LED driving lights and an LED light bar, as well as a steel sports bar in the tub and tough rear bar with built-in tow kit. The red tow hooks are logically placed, and the paint helps them stand out – so much so that Ferguson stated “we want buyers to try and get this car stuck” so they can find out just how useful those hooks are.

Towing is said to remain the same for the SR5-based model, with a maximum braked capacity of 3.2 tonnes for the automatic and 3.5 tonnes for the manual.

Based on our first impression, the only thing that doesn’t look right about the Rugged and Rugged X versions is the wheel choice – the black rim around the outside makes them look really small, and without a chunky mud-terrain tyre to set them off, it’s a bit of a shame. But hey, maybe Rugged and Rugged X buyers will find themselves shopping even further in the aftermarket, at least for wheels and tyres.

While the Rugged and Rugged X models are designed and developed for Australia only, the Rogue version – which is more of a street-focused ute, one for the foreman rather than the worker, you might say – has been introduced in its own guise in Thailand as the HiLux Rocco.

The Rogue’s design is meant to appeal to a more urban-based buyer, one who appreciates things like expensive gin and barbershop hairdos… well, according to the ‘image board’ that Toyota’s design staff work on as an internal measure of what they’re trying to offer in terms of market appeal.

The Rogue version is more of a street-focused ute.

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The Rogue’s design is meant to appeal to a more urban-based buyer.

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Items like the hard-lid and newly designed sports bar show that this is likely to act more as a toy than a workhorse.

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A trapezoidal grille mimics the global ‘truck design’ look of models like the Tundra and Tacoma in the US.

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As such, the Rogue has a “chest out” style front end, with muscled edges to the front bumper and a trapezoidal grille that mimics the global ‘truck design’ look of models like the Tundra and Tacoma in the US. There’s less chrome – it’s an understated cool, “sporty and menacing” look the company is going for – and items like the hard-lid and newly designed sports bar show that this is likely to act more as a toy than a workhorse.

If you’re wondering, the image board for the Rugged X consisted of a blue heeler (if you're not aware, that’s a type of cattle herding dog in Australia), a pair of R M Williams boots, a billy (a pot you boil your tea in when you’re camping) and – oddly – a sci-fi interpretation of a HiLux borrowed from the South African cult hit film, District 9.

As for the Rugged? It’s based on the more affordable SR model, meaning a more rough-and-ready approach to its interior and a few missing elements to its exterior (no LED headlights, for instance). But there’s a clear demand from consumers who want an SR with a few of the nice extras, including the same alloys and decals, but with a more practical bull bar than the integrated steel bumper unit on the Rugged X. If you’re wondering, it’s more practical because it has headlight protection hoops, which is definitely more suitable for those who live in rural areas where animal strikes are a known risk.

The Rugged is based on the more affordable SR model.

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The Rugged has a more practical bull bar than the integrated steel bumper unit on the Rugged X.

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There’s a clear demand from consumers who want an SR with a few of the nice extras, including the same alloys and decals.

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They may be launching in 2018, but the Rogue, Rugged and Rugged X models were first shown to potential buyers way back in August 2015, when Toyota Australia hosted clinics with consumers (or ‘guests’, as the company calls them). Their feedback was taken on design and intended functionality then, before the final go-ahead was given by Toyota HQ in Japan in early 2016.

Ferguson took the design ideas with him to Japan to meet the chief engineer of the HiLux, Hiroki Nakajima.

“I literally went to Japan with these sketches rolled up, sitting next to me on the plane,” Ferguson said. “I went over and basically presented a case study to the chief engineer of the HiLux. That was the way we got this up and running.”

Ferguson said that the entire project has been in conjunction with headquarters – there was no chance the Australian arm would have gone on a “vigilante” (notice how he didn't say “gone rogue”?) program to create something without the blessing of the bosses in Japan.

Check out all 2018 Toyota HiLux price and spec info here.

Are you keen for the new HiLux Rogue, Rugged and Rugged X models? Tell us what you think in the comments below.