Van and Commercial Vehicle Awards 2022: Best Commercial Pick-Up

Priced from £22,478 Economy 28.5-33.2mpg CO2 emissions 224-259g/km Load space N/Am3 Payload 1085kg Power 108-147bhp Torque 295-3691lb ft

The Toyota Hilux is known for its reliability and durability, but has had to work hard to earn its place as our best commercial pick-up. 

The entry-point to the range has an established 2.4-litre engine offering value and working ability, but it’s the addition of a new, more powerful 2.8-litre that has cemented the Hilux as the most capable working off-roader on sale. While manufacturers have run screaming from the pick-up playing field leaving only Ford, Isuzu, SsangYong and Toyota in the game, the Hilux has embraced the challenge with better performance, a new interior and enhanced refinement. Ford’s Ranger line-up provides a strong working model too, but its forte is unquestionably the more luxurious end of the market, which it dominates.

The new Isuzu D-Max offers many of the features the Hilux does, with an even wider range of models that includes the capable entry-level Business model, competitively priced DL20 and DL40 versions and the range-topping V-Cross. However, the 2.8-litre powered Hilux, with manual transmission rather than the six-speed auto gearbox, is the template all commercial pick-up trucks should be based on. 

It combines the nice-to-have elements of a more premium vehicle – Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, for example – with proper rugged and raw off-roading abilities, and is well capable of moving a tonne and four passengers in comfort. Engine downsizing has become a common theme in the commercial vehicle sector, but the new 2.8-litre Toyota Hilux offers a less stressed, quieter and almost economical answer to a question the less premium end of the market has been asking for a long time.

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