Toyota has filed an all-new name for its Hilux in Australia that would be the highest performance model in the lineup.

IT’S ONLY A matter of time until the Ford Ranger’s biggest competitor for sales, the Toyota Hilux, has a model to take on the unique Ranger Raptor.

It appears that when that day comes it will unsurprisingly be called the Toyota Hilux GR.  

Practical Motoring has uncovered papers lodged with the Intellectual Property Australia office to trademark the Toyota GR Hilux name. As we understand, it is in the final stages of being considered for approval.

The nomenclature follows the structure given to only the most potent Gazoo Racing models Toyota will produce, such as the Supra GR and Yaris GR, the latter recently confirmed for Australia. Also on that list is the 86 GR, a model already confirmed overseas. But no one has heard of the Hilux GR before.

As there are no other models with a GR name – such as Corolla or Camry – in the same process, it suggests the Hilux GR could be very real.

Though not a confirmation that it will launch, this is a new ute variant distinguished from the Hilux GR Sport model unveiled in Sao Paulo, Brazil a year ago. As Toyota Australia has repeatedly told us, it is highly unlikely it would introduce the relatively watered-down GR Sport versions of models to Oz, instead opting to only introduce GR models with meaningful performance upgrades in every facet.

Toyota Australia said that it was not aware of the filing and that it was something Toyota Japan would do to secure names in other markets, though we couldn’t find Hilux GR under the same process elsewhere.

“This is standard practice for our parent company to reserve vehicle names that could potentially be used in future, as a means of protecting that name for future use,” a spokesperson said.

“There are definitely no plans to introduce a GR Hilux at this stage, but as always it is something that we would definitely not rule out for the future.”

Toyota’s newfound presence in the World Rally Championship has led to the Yaris GR, and the company’s involvement in the Dakar Rally with the Hilux could lead to a Raptor-rivalling GR version of the Hilux. Perhaps it will look for inspiration from the Hilux Tonka concept it created in Australia three years ago.

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