Wide-track Hilux GR Sport and new Prado headlines Toyota’s 2024 line-up

Toyota has provided an official glimpse of what South Africans can look forward to by revealing key models it will launch in the next few months at its State of the Motor Industry conference held at the Kyalami Grand Prix circuit on Thursday (25 January).

Land Cruiser 70-series GD-6

Announced in December last year as coming to South Africa in 2024, the market offensive will start in February with the debut of the eagerly awaited four-cylinder Land Cruiser 70-series.

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Still to be priced, but not expected to replace the venerable 4.5 D-4D V8 or indeed the 4.0-litre petrol V6, the first four-cylinder Land Cruiser on local soil combines the 2.8 GD-6 turbodiesel engine from the Hilux, Fortuner, Quantum and outgoing Land Cruiser Prado with a six-speed automatic gearbox as opposed to the bent-eight’s five-speed manual.

Producing the same 150kW/500Nm as its siblings, the GD-6 will be available in both the 76 station wagon and 79 single and double cab models, but not the 78 Troop Carrier that soldiers on with the normally aspirated 4.2-litre straight-six turbodiesel also available in the 79.

Sporting a revised interior not offered on any other 70-series model, which this year celebrates its 40^th anniversary, exact specification and pricing details will be announced closer to the local launch date.

Hybrid Hilux and widebody GR Sport

Equally as big a highlight as the 70-series, if not the most significant from a local production standpoint, March will see the premiere of the first hybrid Hilux, as well as the widened-body GR Sport.

The former sighted undergoing final testing as the zero vehicle at the Kenyan round of the World Rally Championship last year, the Safari Rally, the hybrid, called the Hilux 48V, pairs the 2.8 GD-6 with a 48-volt mild-hybrid capable of adding an additional 12kW/65Nm.

This means a combined output of 162kW/565Nm, though not permanently as the added punch only applies for short spells.

Mated exclusively to the six-speed automatic gearbox, the inclusion of the hybrid system has resulted in a lowered idle speed from 720 rpm to 600 rpm and the same 3 500 kg towing capacity as the regular GD-6.

Claimed to have improved fuel consumption by five percent, the 48-volt system will solely be available as an option on the Hilux Raider, Legend, Legend RS and in due course, on the Fortuner. Pricing will be announced later.

Opposite of the hybrid, the GR Sport finally adopts the same Dakar-inspired styling rolled-out in Australia last year, and subsequently tweaked for said market and Europe towards the end of 2023.

Called the GR Sport III, the prominent revisions comprise a restyled grille with a block letter TOYOTA badge, extended wheel arches, heavy duty front and rear skidplates, new LED headlights, standard rock sliders and 17-inch alloy wheels wrapped in all-terrain tyres.

Also fitted with gloss black mirror caps and redesigned bumpers, the GR Sport III’s biggest difference from the current model resides underneath where apart from new mono-tube shock absorbers, upgraded coil springs and improved brakes, Toyota has increased the front track by 140 mm and the rear by 155 mm.

The result is 20 mm more ground clearance for a total of 265 mm, a departure angle of 26-degrees and approach angle of 30-degrees.

Up front, the 2.8 GD-6 engine continues without change, meaning 165kW/550Nm fed to rear or all four wheels through a six-speed automatic gearbox.

As with the hybrid, local pricing will only be announced later, however, expect a considerable increase over the current GR Sport’s R947 600 sticker.

Hello new Prado

Teased and speculated over a four-year period before finally debuting in August last year, the all-new Land Cruiser Prado will make its debut in April as the second model after the Land Cruiser 300 to ride on the dedicated TNGA-F platform that will underpin the next generation Fortuner and Hilux.

Incorporating styling from the Land Cruiser 60 and 80-series’, the internally designated 250 Prado, known in other markets simply as the Toyota Land Cruiser and Toyota Land Cruiser 250, will be offered in both standard and limited run First Edition guises, the latter having a restricted production run of 3 000 models globally.

The twin of the Lexus GX unveiled months before in the United States, the South African-spec Prado will retain the TX and VX-R trim levels, but no longer a choice of engines as the 4.0-litre V6 petrol has been dropped entirely and the 2.8 GD-6 carried over as the sole method of propulsion.

Also minus the new 2.4-litre turbocharged petrol and its i-Force Max hybrid offshoot, the GD-6 goes without any hybrid assistance as the case is in Europe, but does get the new eight-speed automatic gearbox in place of the current six-speed as the only transmission option.

Expected to come fitted with the Multi-Terrain Select system, the Multi-Terrain Monitor, Crawl Control and inside, the standard 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster flanked either by an eight or 12.3-inch infotainment system, the Prado’s final specification will be announced closer to the April launch date, with the same applying to pricing.

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