New look for Toyota HiLux Rogue

Australia’s best-selling car just got a makeover, but will it be enough to see off a red-hot rival in the new Ford Ranger?

Toyota has upgraded Australia’s best-selling car, bringing fresh looks and tech to the HiLux ute for 2022.

The Japanese giant will launch a revised HiLux in the fourth quarter of the year, warding off fresh competition from its arch-rival in the new Ford Ranger.

The new Toyota HiLux Rogue is wider and taller than before.

While the Ranger is all-new for the second half of the year, Toyota’s updates amount to a facelift and slight specification change to most models.

A heavily reworked Toyota HiLux Rogue is the exception. Borrowing from the immense success of Ford’s Ranger Raptor, the Rogue benefits from significantly wider bodywork and the addition of rear disc brakes.

Reworked suspension and wider bodywork is part of the deal.

The new machine has a 140mm increase in track width at the front and rear, along with an extra 20mm in ride height.

Reworked suspension geometry including the addition of a rear stabiliser bar should make the Rogue better than ever to drive, five years after the first-generation version arrived.

Similar changes are likely to apply to a new HiLux Rugged-X model set to debut at a later date.

The wider HiLux road arrives before the end of the year.

Lesser models get alloy wheels and painted doorhandles in place of black fixtures.

HiLux SR5 modes models get blind spot monitoring, rear cross traffic alert and 360-degree camera features, as well as new mirrors with puddle lamps.

Mechanical elements, such as the Toyota’s 2.8-litre turbo diesel engine, remain unchanged.

Full prices and specifications will be announced closer to the car’s official debut.