Toyota Hilux Dakar South Africa 2015
We’d just digested the launch of the Toyota Hilux Legend 45 – that’s 45 years of production in case you didn’t know – and already there’s another special edition to spur on sales. The Toyota Hilux Dakar is yet another means to celebrate Toyota’s success in Dakar… one of the few races where finishing second is considered an accomplishment great enough to warrant accessorising your best seller.
According to Glenn Crompton, Vice President of Marketing, this new model is “inspired by the extreme performance of the world’s most grueling motorsport event where toughness is not just a pay-off line, it’s a prerequisite. People buy Hilux as a workhorse, a family vehicle, or as a mixture of both, which means they are attracted by its renowned ruggedness as well as its car-like comfort. Hilux Dakar delivers the best of both worlds.”
Toyota say 50 per cent of Legend models will be converted to ‘Dakar Status’ in the next three months and the Toyota Dakar Hilux will carry many of the same interior and exterior upgrades fitted to the Legend 45. Essentially lots of two-tone stuff, alloys in a darker grey finish, Dakar detailing on the nudge bar, glossy black horizontal slats and exclusive colours of white and silver. Black interior with red stitching is unique to Toyota Hilux Dakar. Of course these nice-to-haves aren’t free…We did some comparing and noted that the Toyota Hilux Dakar costs on average R10 000 more than the Legend 45.
We’ve already seen a few pictures of the latest Hilux circling the web and arguably nobody is more anxious for its arrival than Toyota. Clearly even they are desperately running out of ideas to squeeze more sales from the much-loved Hilux. Bigger changes are needed to regain a segment lead recently pipped to the post by the Ford Ranger.
