Was the all-electric EPU Concept shown at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo last year a preview of the Corolla Cross bakkie? Picture: Jaco van der Merwe
South Africans love bakkies as much as they love the Toyota badge. Even just the smallest hint of a new bakkie wearing a Toyota badge makes headlines every day, all day long.
This year it was rumours of a likely Toyota Corolla Cross bakkie that got people talking. Reports from Brazil suggested that a small bakkie based on the Corolla Cross will be produced in Sao Paulo from 2027. It will only be offered with a hybrid powertrain and initially be built only in left-hand drive.
The new bakkie’s market availability outside of South America is uncertain, but it will make perfect sense for South Africa. Since the discontinuation of the Nissan NP200 this year, there are no more traditional “half-ton” bakkies on sale in South Africa.
Renault did consider bringing in the Oroch, a double cab leisure bakkie based on the Duster in 2023, but eventually pulled the plug.
The Toyota assembly plant in Prospecton already builds the Toyota Corolla Cross and adding a bakkie version to the production line certainly sounds like viable option. The plant started manufacturing the Corolla Cross in 2021 alongside the Fortuner, Hilux and Corolla Quest.
Although Toyota South Africa Motors (TSAM) have gone on record on its desire to produce a “Junior” Hilux in the coming years, it is not a foregone conclusion yet on which platform it will be based yet. The “Junior” part of the name doesn’t refer to size, but to a lesser specced version of the Toyota Hilux.
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The is the possibility that the Junior Hilux can be based on the IMV0 Concept we saw at the Japan Mobility Show in Tokyo last year. This model has become the Hilux Champ in Thailand since.
“Be it a half-ton or three-quarter ton, something that is a bit more accessible, there is clear indications that that market is important and we would love participate in it,” Andrew Kirby, TSAM President and CEO told The Citizen Motoring in July.
“[However], right now, we don’t have approval to manufacture it in South Africa and we don’t have immediate plans to launch it either.”
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