Customize Hilux Champ to Your Needs
Last month Toyota brought forth the Hilux Champ for Thailand. This special pickup truck – manufactured to satisfy many requirements – is the product of thoughtful design on the part of the automaker. To both maintain affordability and allow for utility, they opted to build the truck in such a way that customers can complete the construction process.
Dr. Jurachart Jongusuk, the lead designer at Toyota’s IMV platform, informed Road & Track that the truck was practically “70 percent complete,” needing its users to provide the remaining 30 percent of the process. Called ‘The Champ’, which is a derivative from the IMV 0 concept, this project offers purchasers with an open palette to work with. In October at Japan’s Mobility Showcase, Toyota displayed a variety of models including an ambulance, food vehicle, vending machine and other out-of-the-box ideas.
The carmaker also managed to curtail expenses by using its tight Toyota Production System in the truck’s distribution network. Technicians visited the suppliers, incorporating prior knowledge to amplify the fabrication technique and restrict outlay, ultimately driving them to cover overleaf spring shackles in separate shades as a method of economizing.
The truck’s back shelf comes with bolt-holes, enabling clients to affix whatever it is that they desire. Toyota Motor Thailand will also be providing customers with more than one hundred custom accessory manufactures for them to mod and use on the Hilux Champ. Instead of a vehicle for private passengers, this model is much closer in design to a chassis cab truck – with being made purely for professional objectives. It’s been created to do its job right.
The two-wheel-drive Hilux Champ comes in both condensed and extended wheelbase models. Clients can choose from three motor types: the 2.0- or 2.7-liter gasoline variants or the 2.4-liter diesel one. There are eight grades to pick from, all of which have a choice between the five-speed manual or six-speed automatic transmission, thereby allowing it to tow up to a maximum of 2,200 pounds.
Equipped with only a basic flat platform, the Hilux Champ has a price tag ranging from 459,000 to 577,000 baht ($13,200 to $16,600, based on today’s exchange rate). Dependent upon specified features, the cost could rise even more. Drawing inspiration from the Toyota Kijang of the mid-1970s the Hilux Champ is an advancement of the Rangga Concept. Wouldn’t it be wonderful if Toyota produced a version for US customers?
Source: Road And Track
