Toyota’s next-gen ute designs unaffected by luxury demands

The rise of upmarket dual cab utes and their luxury features will never come at the cost of load-carrying ability or practicality.

That’s the promise from one of Toyota’s senior global design executives, Kevin Hunter, who says utes can be SUV-minded and ready for work at the same time.

While he cannot speak for all car makers, Hunter believes rivals including Mercedes-Benz, Volkswagen and Ford will adhere to the same thinking in the future.

“It seems like buyers are turning away from SUVs and premium crossovers and looking instead at premium trucks. We can’t even build enough Tundra TRDs to satisfy the demand,” Hunter told us recently, speaking about Toyota’s full-sized ‘pick-up’ in the US.

“We have a really rugged truck image in the US and we’re aiming to keep that. We want to build on what we have, especially in the US. Those trucks are built on a work-truck reputation, along with hard-core off-roading – that’s what we’re aiming for.”

Toyota’s Tundra is a go-to pick-up for many aspirational US buyers. Increasingly, the Tacoma – essentially the US clone of the HiLux – is finding favour with American buyers, and similar take-up is tipped for the incoming 2019 Ford Ranger.

In Australia, predominantly Thai-built utilities have been able to maintain their worksite-ready premise despite an influx of family and recreational buyers. Toyota capitalised on this recently with the release of its Rogue, Rugged and Rugged X HiLux offerings.

Hunter, from the US-based Calty design studio, believes this trait will remain for the time being, with car makers forced to innovate rather than compensate.

A prime example is the continued preference for ladder-frame chassis and leaf-sprung rear ends in all but the Nissan Navara and Mercedes-Benz X-Class sibling, which feature a coil-sprung rear.

“The ute market is going upmarket, that’s what we have to be aware of moving forward,” Hunter said. “We need to supply customers with new everyday conveniences but the ute needs to be durable enough for work.”

“It is a real challenge. We go from price-leader trucks all the way up to our premium offerings – sometimes pushing $US70,000.

“Getting the right material that has the breadth to cover all spectrums is a real challenge.”

Hunter pointed to Toyota’s revolutionary FT-4X off-road concept as a potential direction for new Toyota utility models, specifically its next-level interior, which features bold design flourishes and everyday conveniences integrated in a way that wouldn’t distract from the vehicle’s core appeal.