How Toyota Was Able to Make Its $13,000 Future Pickup So Affordable
www.msn.com | 12-20-23 | Mike Austin

It turns out the $10,000 pickup truck is actually too good to be true. But only by a little bit. The production version of the Toyota IMV 0 concept, now known as the Hilux Champ in Thailand, starts at 459,000 Thai Baht, or just over $13,000 at the current exchange rate. On the one hand, that’s 30 percent higher than the price we heard from Toyota engineers during a brief test drive in Japan.

On the other hand, it’s a brand new truck with a full bed capable of hauling 2,200 pounds that’s almost as cheap as a 22-year-old Ford Ranger on Bring a Trailer. As a further reminder, the 2024 Tacoma base price is $32,995.

The Hilux Champ is still a deal, and to learn more about how Toyota pulled this off, we got some answers straight from Dr. Jurachart Jongusuk, chief engineer for Toyota’s IMV platform as well as regional chief engineer for Toyota Daihatsu Engineering and Manufacturing.

One reason the Hilux Champ doesn’t cost much is the utter bare-bones nature of the truck. This is first and foremost a commercial vehicle, closer to the chassis cab Ford F-350 box truck you rent at U-Haul in terms of features and amenities than anything Toyota sells to the U.S. consumer. Dr. Jongusuk told Road & Track Toyota focused on “Optimization of specification to only necessary items through extensive target customer input, through a simple but highly functional interior and exterior.“

Another reason is the relentless cost-cutting that went into the Hilux Champ’s development, going so far as to apply the Toyota Production System all the way down the supply chain.