Toyota HiLux 2014 News

THE Holden Commodore has made a surprising recovery in the March sales race with a staggering 85 per cent sales increase compared with the same month the prior year -- narrowly missing a place on the podium as the nation’s fourth most popular car.Official figures released today show it was the Commodore’s third-best monthly sales tally since the new VF model went on sale 10 months ago, as the Holden brand overall posted a 19 per cent sales surge -- the strongest growth of any Top 10 brand and the seventh month in a row it has outpaced the market.However, the sharp percentage increases are largely due to the Commodore posting its second-lowest monthly result ever in March last year (1606 sales). The Commodore’s tally for March this year of 2967 sales is still down compared with the 2012 figure of about 3200 deliveries.But the Commodore’s old arch rival, the Ford Falcon, continued to rank well outside the Top 10, with just 641 deliveries. The Cruze small car that is built alongside the Commodore had a tough run, with sales down 30 per cent on the same month last year -- about half the sales rate as the same month just two years ago.March is the typically the second-biggest month for new-car sales as the Japanese brands have a surge in the lead-up to the end of the Japanese financial year, which closed on March 31. The sharp discounting prompts also the non-Japanese brands to compete.Last year’s top-selling car, the Toyota Corolla, led the March sales race -- but the Mazda3 small car, which was the market leader in January and February, still leads the year-to-date tally. The third-placed Toyota HiLux ute again squeezed the Commodore off the podium in March. But the Commodore still managed to outsell the popular Hyundai i30, Ford Ranger ute and Toyota Camry sedan.The Commodore also proved more popular than the updated Mazda CX-5 and Toyota RAV4 SUVs, which ranked just inside the Top 10 sellers list for March. The official figures show the new-car market is beginning to make a recovery after a downturn in January and February. Sales in March were down by just 0.1 per cent, to 97,267 deliveries, while sales in the first three months combined are down by 2.4 per cent.But the downturn has been exaggerated by Nissan, Honda and Mitsubishi, which have all posted massive sales slowdowns for the first three months of this year, likely because their dealer networks are still clearing cars that were declared as sold in 2013.This reporter is on Twitter: @JoshuaDowling

Nissan unveiled the concept version of the Frontier – known as the Navara in Australia -- at the motor show with a new Cummins 2.8-litre turbodiesel engine and a ZF eight-speed automatic. The Cummins is being used to gauge reaction to a diesel mill in the US, where the big ute is sold only with a 4.0-litre V6 petrol engine.However, of more interest to us is the appearance of the ZF automatic, with an eight-speed currently the province largely of premium vehicles – with the upmarket Volkswagen Amarok the only ute to sport it in Australia.The addition of the transmission to the Navara would give it an extra selling point over rivals in the field, where the Nissan is second only to the Toyota Hilux in the 4x4 category, but trails not only Hilux but also Ford Ranger, Mitsubishi Triton, Mazda BT-50 and Holden Colorado in the 4x2 category.There would also be some advantage in the Frontier concept’s all-round disc brakes, which could give it an edge over even the Amarok, which like the Colorado, Ranger, BT-50 and other rivals have stuck with rear drum brakes – although without threatening their 5-star safety ratings.However it’s unlikely the concept’s four-cylinder Cummins will ever appear in our Navara. While the new diesel’s 149kW and 475Nm has a slight output superiority over the Renault-sourced 2.5-litre 140kW and 450Nm in our current Navaras, it’s no match for our flagship ST 550, which will deliver 170Nm and 550Nm from the 3-litre V6 with a seven-speed automatic – although at a hefty cost of A$62,990.But if Nissan's alliance with Cummins did bear Navara fruit, it could give our ute the grunt to outgun rivals like the Ranger / BT50 and Colorado, without recurring to the thirst - and price tag - of the V6 diesel. This could also be an opportunity for the Navara to match rivals' 3500kg towing capacity, where even the V6 diesel Navara is only rated at 3000kg despite having the most power and torque in its segment.

An all-new HiLux is still a couple of years away, so Toyota has given the popular ute -- Australia’s best-selling workmate for over 30 years -- the fourth of its updates to help it keep a leading pace.The changes move the 4WD HiLux to five-star crash safety across the board with six airbags, electronic stability control and satnav as standard, and reversing camera and live traffic updates on higher variants.Inside, the updated HiLux gets a new 6.1-inch display screen for the audio system along with fresh interior colours and materials, while the SR5 now adds live traffic updates to its satellite navigation system. A new five-speed automatic transmission is now available for the 4WD dual-cab versions.Prices have risen from $500 to $1000, depending on model, starting at with the 4X2 2.7-litre petrol Workmate manual at $27,490, and topping out at $54,490 for the 4WD SR5 automatic with either the 3.0-litre turbodiesel or 4.0-litre petrol V6 petrol.The HiLux has been a sales success for Toyota -- third on last year's overall leaderboard, and in some months topping it -- and has just marked 800,000 sales over its life. Dual Cab prices and models2014 Toyota HiLux Dual Cab 4X2 models2014 Toyota HiLux 2.7-litre 4-cyl petrol Workmate manual - $27,490 (up $500)2014 Toyota HiLux 2.7-litre 4-cyl petrol Workmate automatic - $29,740 (up $750)2014 Toyota HiLux 3.0-litre 4-cyl turbo-diesel SR manual - $33,990 (up $1,000)2014 Toyota HiLux 4.0-litre V6 petrol SR automatic - $38,490 (up $1,000)2014 Toyota HiLux 4.0-litre V6 petrol SR5 automatic - $45,990 (up $1,000)2014 Toyota HiLux Dual Cab 4X4 models2014 Toyota HiLux 3.0-litre 4-cyl turbo-diesel SR manual - $42,490 (up $500)2014 Toyota HiLux 3.0-litre 4-cyl turbo-diesel SR auto - $45,240 (up $750)2014 Toyota HiLux 3.0-litre 4-cyl turbo-diesel SR5 manual - $51,740 (up $750)2014 Toyota HiLux 3.0-litre 4-cyl turbo-diesel SR5 auto - $54,490 (up $1,000)2014 Toyota HiLux 4.0-litre V6 petrol SR5 automatic - $54,490 (up $1,000)              2014 Toyota HiLux Cab Chassis2014 Toyota HiLux 3.0-litre 4-cyl turbo-diesel SR manual - $40,990 (up $500) 

The countdown has begun for Toyota's push into Ford and Holden's heartland. The new TRD contenders will be in showrooms within four months and the Aurion V6 and HiLux have been out for final verification work, as they are prepared for battle against SS Commodores and XR Falcons. More signs are also pointing to a V6 RAV4, that shares its 3.5-litre engine with the Aurion, becoming the third TRD model. The two confirmed starters are familiar to anyone who has been to a major motor show this year, but still the HiLux looked impressive when photographed last week. The TRD operation is now moving from test and development into full-scale assembly work being done in Melbourne by Prodrive, which also holds the rights to fast Ford road cars in Australia. The Aurion will be out first and, even though the HiLux is confirmed for November, Toyota Australia is still trying to keep full details secret. The car is likely to be available from September; the press preview drive is scheduled for late August. “The car is coming in the third quarter. At this stage, that's all I can say,” Toyota spokesman Mike Breen says. “It's all done. It's ready to go. You have basically seen it at the motor shows. It's supercharged V6 et cetera.” The first TRD Aurions have already been ordered, Queensland police taking 11 for highway patrol work. They will join a batch of regular Aurion Sportivo V6s already in police paint. The HiLux is more subdued than that unveiled at the Melbourne Motor Show in March, but still promises plenty of go with a similar supercharged engine. “The HiLux is in November,” Breen says. “It is undergoing final testing. It's the 4.0-litre petrol engine, supercharged.” Toyota has confirmed the TRD Aurion is quicker than expected, using a new Eaton twin-vortices supercharger packaged in Melbourne by Harrop Engineering. “Total engine performance is one of the key positives of the TRD Aurion package,” TRD Australia chief engineer Stephen Castles says. “The TVS unit has performed really well and definitely helped deliver the engine performance we need.” Work on the engine has also been done by the Orbital Engine Company in Perth, which focused on testing and component development.