Despite appearing production-ready, the renamed Hilux Rangga SUV is nothing but a concept for now.
With production of the Hilux Champ already underway in Thailand, Toyota has debuted the new half-ton in Indonesia by also showing a concept SUV billed as a smaller and affordable alternative to the Fortuner.
Change of name
Compared to Thailand, the Champ switches nameplates for Indonesia by becoming the Hilux Rangga powered by the same 2.0-litre petrol and 2.4 GD-6 turbodiesel engines.
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In the case of the SUV though, which pays indirect homage to the original Hilux Surf/4Runner, Toyota has sealed-off the loadbin of the short wheelbase Rangga behind the B-pillar with an enclosed canopy complete with custom doors and a unique tailgate.
Homage to SUV’s past
Similar not only to the Surf/4Runner but also the original Nissan Pathfinder and the locally made Sani that rated as bakkies converted into SUVs, the simply named Hilux Rangga SUV also gets a bench rear seat finished in the same two-tone green-and-brown syntenic leather as the front chairs.
Based on the images by Thailand’s headlightmag.com obtained from Indonesian automotive writer Indra Fathan on Instagram, the custom-made rear section has also resulted in a different appearance to any other current Toyota model.
Tipped as the spiritual successor to the original Rangga, better known in South Africa as the Venture and then later the Condor, the high-roof concept’s dimensions wasn’t revealed, though it reportedly featured more specification items than the bakkie.
According to Fatham, this included a touchscreen infotainment system with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, electric windows, rear air-conditioning vents, rear parking sensors, a reverse camera and dual front airbags as well as ABS.
Same engines
As with the original Rangga, also known as the Kijang in other Asian markets, the concept lacks four-wheel-drive similar to the bakkie, though it did sport the six-speed automatic gearbox that comes standard on the diesel version of the bakkie.
In terms of power, the Indonesian-spec Hilux Rangga develops the same outputs as the Champ, meaning 102kW/183Nm from the 2.0-litre petrol and 110kW/400Nm from the 2.4 GD-6.
Missing is the 122kW/245Nm 2.7-litre petrol mated solely to the automatic ‘box and the manual diesel that offers-up the same 110 kW, but with 343 Nm of torque.
No Champ yet
For the time being, the Hilux Rangga SUV remains nothing but a concept with no official plans of putting it into production being known.
At the same time, South African market availability and production of the Hilux Champ remains off the table despite interest still being high.
“Right now, we don’t have approval to manufacture it in South Africa and we don’t have immediate plans to launch it either. But it is not something we are discounting,” Toyota South Africa Motors President and CEO, Andrew Kirby, told The Citizen at the launch of the new Land Cruiser Prado in Mozambique in July.
“We are investigating it and we will certainly look for every opportunity if it makes sense for us to introduce it”.
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