What is a Toyota Hilux called in the US?
In the United States, the Toyota Hilux is not sold under that name today; the US market uses the Toyota Tacoma as its midsize pickup. The Hilux designation remains worldwide, but not on US dealership lots.
US naming history for the Hilux-derived pickup
To understand how the Hilux translates to the American market, it helps to look at the naming timeline the United States has followed for Toyota’s pickups.
- Toyota Pickup (roughly 1970s to 1995): The US market’s name for what was globally known as the Hilux-based pickup before the Tacoma era.
- Toyota Tacoma (1995–present): The US market’s midsize pickup, introduced to replace the Toyota Pickup and serve as the current Toyota midsize truck in America.
In short, US buyers today look for a Tacoma rather than a Hilux, and the Hilux branding is not used for new US-market models.
Why the Hilux branding differs by market
Automotive manufacturers often adapt model names to regional preferences and regulatory environments. Toyota chose to unify its US midsize pickup line under the Tacoma name in the mid-1990s, while the Hilux branding continued to thrive in most other regions around the world.
- Global Hilux branding: In most countries outside the US, the Hilux remains the standard name for Toyota’s rugged pickup, continuing through multiple generations.
- US market practice: Since 1995, the standard US lineup has used the Tacoma nameplate, with the Hilux name effectively dropped from American dealerships.
Thus, for American buyers, the Hilux is not the model name used today; the Tacoma is the contemporary reference point for Toyota’s midsize pickup in the United States.
Summary
The Toyota Hilux and Toyota Tacoma are closely related in lineage, but in the United States, the Hilux name is obsolete for new vehicles. The US market uses the Toyota Tacoma as its midsize pickup, with the Hilux branding remaining common in many other regions around the world. If you’re shopping in the US today, you’ll be looking for a Tacoma, not a Hilux.
