Toyota Hilux Gets a New Face, Yet Still A Lot Of Features Missing

The India-spec Hilux, updated by Toyota, walks away from this facelift looking a bit sharper up front. Nobody doubts this truck's ability to survive a beating off-road. That part of its story is settled. What's less settled is comfort. Buyers cross-shopping SUVs at the same price point are used to getting a longer list of conveniences, and the Hilux, even post-update, doesn't quite match that list. For a truck that has to pull double duty as both a work vehicle and as a lifestyle runabout, that gap shows.

The Facelift, In Short

The update comes with a completely redesigned exterior and a new modern-looking interior. Mechanically, the Hilux is built on the same IMV platform it's always shared with the Fortuner and Innova Crysta, and none of that has been touched.

A refresh cycle is usually a chance to sneak in a few extra creature comforts too, but Toyota didn't take it here, so the Hilux is still playing catch-up against SUVs in its price bracket. An off-road purist won't lose sleep over any of this. A daily driver probably will.

Features The Hilux Still Doesn't Have

Automatic Climate Control

No more manually chasing the right fan speed. Set a temperature once and the system holds it. Skipping this keeps the cabin feeling closer to a work truck than the price tag suggests it should.

Rear Defogger

Thin heating wires in the rear glass would clear fog and frost in seconds. It's a small, inexpensive safety feature, and its absence is genuinely surprising given how relevant it is during India's monsoon and winter months.

Electric Power Steering

Hydraulic steering, which is what the Hilux still runs, gets heavy at parking speeds. An electric setup wouldn't change the truck's character much, but it would make low-speed manoeuvring far less of a chore.

Auto-Dimming Rear-View Mirror

This mirror senses headlight glare from behind and dims itself automatically. Given how tall the Hilux sits, it's more exposed to glare than most vehicles on the road, so this one would genuinely help after dark.

Powered Front Seats

Push-button seat adjustment sounds minor until you're the one manually cranking a lever on a long drive. Adding it, even just for the driver, would meaningfully lift the cabin's everyday feel.

Rear AC Vents

The rear-seat occupants’ area cools slowly without dedicated vents feeding the back seat. Leaving this out undercuts the Hilux's pitch as a genuine family vehicle, not just a work truck with rear seats.

Leatherette Upholstery

Wipe-clean leatherette makes more sense than fabric for a truck that's going to see mud, dust, and outdoor gear regularly. It also just looks and feels more expensive than cloth does.

What's Under the Bonnet

The powertrain hasn't changed: a 2.8-litre four-cylinder turbo-diesel, similar to the Fortuner, produces 204 PS and 500 Nm of torque with the 6-speed automatic gearbox. The 4x4 variant gets off-road hardware like a low-range transfer case, electronic diff lock, the works, which is really the Hilux's whole reason for its being.

Powertrain figures are as follows:

AT - Torque Converter (automatic)

Price And Rivals

The Hilux sits at the premium end of India's SUV segment, priced from Rs 32 lakh (ex-showroom) onwards. And honestly, the Isuzu V-Cross is its only real like-for-like competitor. But go purely by price, and the Hilux actually rubs shoulders with full-size seven-seat SUVs like the Fortuner included, along with the MG Majestor.

ZigSays…

Reliability and off-road ability were never in question for the Hilux, and this update doesn't change that. It's a sharper-looking truck than before, but mechanically, it's the same vehicle it was previously. Nothing on this missing-features list touches its core competence. It's all comfort, not capability.

That said, the line between pickup and family SUV keeps getting blurry for the Hilux, and comfort is exactly what buyers weigh when that line blurs. If Toyota folds even half of these features into a future update, the Hilux stops being a compromise and starts being a genuinely complete package.