Toyota’s pickup history begins before the Hilux: the company’s official lineage starts with the G1 truck in 1935. The Hilux arrived in 1968 and became Toyota’s best-known global pickup line, but its name and generation labels vary by market. In the United States, Toyota sold it as the Toyota Truck, while Toyota’s global history counts eight Hilux generations.
When did Toyota start making trucks?
Toyota’s official vehicle lineage begins with the Model G1, a truck that the lineage chart lists as first appearing in August 1935. Toyota’s company history separately says the G1 was announced in November 1935. Those dates describe different milestones: the chart’s first-appearance date and the public announcement.
The G1 was a truck, not necessarily a pickup in the modern sense. Toyota Canada identifies the smaller SB, introduced in the postwar period alongside the BM, as the first Toyota pickup. The distinction matters: Toyota’s truck lineage predates both the SB and the later Hilux.
What came before the Toyota Hilux?
Toyota’s lineage chart records a succession of commercial trucks through the 1940s and postwar years, including the GA, GY, GB, HB, KB, LB, KC and BM. It is a lineage overview rather than a detailed catalog of each model’s specifications, so it is best read as evidence of an evolving truck program, not as a complete list of pickup variants.
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The Hilux emerged from a later product transition. Toyota says it integrated and succeeded the Briska and Light Stout when it debuted in March 1968. Toyota conceived the Hilux, while Hino Motors developed and manufactured it at Hamura.
How the global Toyota Hilux evolved
Toyota’s global Hilux history counts eight generations. The generation dates below follow Toyota’s global Hilux chronology; they should not be mixed with Toyota USA’s archive labels for North American models.
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First generation: 1968
The original Hilux was a bonnet-type truck with a separate frame. Toyota’s 2018 historical account gives it a 1.5-liter 2R engine rated at 70 PS, a four-speed column-shift manual, seating for three, and a 1,000 kg payload. Its front suspension used double wishbones and coil springs; the rear used a rigid axle and leaf springs. The cargo bed measured 1,850 mm. These are first-generation specifications, not figures for later Hilux models.
Second generation: 1972–1978
Toyota dates the second global Hilux generation to 1972–1978. That range describes the global model history, not every market’s local model-year or sales dates.
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Sixth generation: two distinct roles
Toyota’s global history dates the sixth-generation Hilux introduction to September 1997. Toyota describes a deliberate split in the lineup: a business-use truck and a personal-use sports pickup. The distinction reflects Toyota’s effort to serve both commercial buyers and customers seeking a more lifestyle-oriented pickup.
Seventh generation: the IMV era
Toyota dates seventh-generation Hilux production and launch to 2004. The model was part of the Innovative International Multi-purpose Vehicle (IMV) project, which developed three pickup models under the Hilux name alongside the Innova minivan and Fortuner SUV on a shared platform. Toyota’s account describes the project as an international vehicle-development and production strategy; it does not mean every vehicle was identical or sold in every market.
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Eighth generation: world premiere in 2015
Toyota unveiled the redesigned eighth-generation Hilux in Bangkok on May 21, 2015, with sales beginning in Thailand. The premiere was a specific event in Thailand, not a simultaneous global launch. At the time, Toyota reported that more than 16 million Hilux pickups had been sold across more than 180 countries and regions since 1968. That is Toyota’s cumulative figure as of May 21, 2015, not a current sales total.
Independent reader supportYour contribution helps us test, update, and keep practical guides available for everyone.Why Toyota Pickup and Hilux generation dates differ
“Toyota pickup” does not refer to one uninterrupted name across all markets. Toyota’s global history says the Hilux was marketed as the Toyota Truck in the United States. Toyota USA’s historic archive uses its own U.S.-specific generation labels and model-year ranges, so those labels do not map one-to-one to global Hilux generations.
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- Size: 19.5m *7.8cm * 6.5cm (7.7inch * 3.1inch * 2.6inch)
- Material: body alloy, rubber tire,others are ABS environmentally friendly plastic, The wheels can rotate, The left and right car doors can be opened, and the interior of the car is highly simulated, and some parts materials are die-cast materials
- About packaging: Fine gift box packaging，We use sturdy Thickened cartons and bubble pads are used to ensure product safety
- Meaningful Collectibles: We wish you much enjoyment in the pursuit of your collecting dreams
- Please note: This model is a static model car, not a toy car and is not suitable for children under 15 years old
| Convention | Name and dates | How to read it |
|---|---|---|
| Global Hilux chronology | Eight Hilux generations; the sixth began in September 1997, the seventh in 2004, and the eighth premiered in May 2015 (Toyota global history and milestones). | Use for the worldwide Hilux lineage, while checking the market for launch and production details. |
| Toyota USA historic archive | First-generation Hi-Lux: 1969–1972; sixth-generation Toyota Truck: 1989–1995 (Toyota USA archive). | These are U.S. archive labels and ranges, not the global Hilux generation dates. |
The naming difference explains why a U.S. model described as a Toyota Pickup or Toyota Truck may not share the same generation number or start year used in a global Hilux history. It is safer to state the market and source convention whenever quoting a generation.
Later milestones and regional returns
Hilux milestones have not all been worldwide launches. Toyota’s timeline records the model’s reintroduction to the Japanese market in September 2017 after a 13-year hiatus. That is a Japan-specific market return, distinct from the eighth generation’s 2015 world premiere in Thailand.
North American naming later changed, but the Toyota sources cited here do not establish a complete model-year transition chronology from the Toyota Truck to the Tacoma. The Tacoma should not be treated simply as a renamed global Hilux on the basis of these milestones alone.
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