Toyota in Australia has released a handful of images showing a range of Hilux facelift design options that didn’t make it to production.

The folks over at CarAdvice.com.au published screenshots from an official Toyota video showing some of the styling options that were considered but ultimately scrapped.

Interestingly, the refreshed Hilux was styled Down Under, with Toyota Australia's product design manager Peter Elliott saying the brief was to develop a “simple and strong, athletic” version of the popular bakkie.

"From the beginning, our sketches investigated bold and tough themes that centred on a larger, more vertical trapezoid grille enhanced by an upper bonnet moulding and lower bumper components that lock into the grille surround," Elliott said.

"The headlamps have been moved outboard and they now connect with the distinctly chiselled bumper corners, linking the design. We progressed through clay models and CAD, evolving the idea to be cohesive with the rest of the vehicle, while maintaining maximum visual impact.

"The final design was milled as a full-size clay model and shipped to Japan, where it was well received as a bold step forward with a strong Toyota DNA," he added.

Revealed in Thailand in June 2020, the updated Hilux is “still some months away” from launching in South Africa, according to Toyota’s local division.

The Hilux for the South African market is, of course, produced at Toyota’s Prospecton plant in Durban, KwaZulu-Natal. An upgraded version of the bakkie hit the local market in May 2018 in the form of the limited-edition Dakar, before the updated face was rolled out to other derivatives. The Legend 50 variants followed in June 2019, with this refreshed model likely to hit the market either towards the end of 2020 or fairly early in 2021.

Check out some of the designs that were considered in the gallery section above (compared with the final product embedded below)...

Original article from Car