A FACELIFT for Toyota’s one-tonne king, the HiLux, addresses some of the shortcomings of Australia’s number one light truck, just in the nick of time before several rivals launch all-new challengers.

The fundamentals of the ‘unbreakable’ ute all remain unmolested, but Toyota has expanded its diesel offerings and added features such as ABS and Bluetooth on lower models and sat-nav on upper specs.

Best of all, Toyota has sharpened its pencil on value, especially on 4x4 variants, adding features and cutting prices on several of the 35 HiLux models.

It will be interesting to see if Toyota has done enough to repel boarders from Fortress HiLux, the most admired truck in the land with – until now – an almost impregnable sales position.