The Toyota Hilux is getting a mild hybrid option for buyers who seek a more fuel efficient bakkie solution.

During a press conference, where the company also announced its intention to launch a more affordable bakkie, Toyota South Africa’s senior vice president for sales and marketing, Leon Theron, confirmed that mild hybrid versions of the Hilux and Fortuner would be launched locally in 2024.

Toyota unveiled the mild hybrid version of its popular Hilux bakkie in Kenya recently. The company utilised the WRC Safari Rally to showcase this model for the first time. The popular automaker conducted a successful demo run of the Hilux Mild Hybrid Electric Vehicle concept (MHEV) at the Safari Rally, with Juha Kankkunen, four-time WRC champion and former Toyota title winner, behind the wheel.

The demonstration of this new powertrain reinforces Toyota’s positioning of delivering a diverse range of vehicles on its journey towards carbon neutrality.

The Hilux MHEV represents several advantages over traditional internal combustion models, including reduced fuel consumption and emissions, without a charging infrastructure, making it ideal for markets in Africa and South Africa.

Toyota earlier this year announced that it will take a multi-pathway approach to carbon neutrality, presenting various options that are fit-for-purpose to each region, under the policy of leaving no one behind.

In light of the often unstable electricity supply in Africa, the Japanese car maker believes that MHEVs are the continent’s most viable entry point into the electric vehicle market, as they do not require charging infrastructure, while also making use of existing refuelling infrastructure.

Toyota South Africa hopes the introduction of the mild-hybrid Hilux bakkie into the South African market will take place next year. Toyota says the hybrid version of South Africa’s best-selling vehicle will be produced at its Prospecton plant, in Durban, alongside the rest of the Hilux range.