Hilux Envy

Traveling around Nicaragua, you cannot help noticing the overwhelming preponderance of Toyota vehicles on the roads. Not just here, but anywhere in the world where rugged reliability is valued, the Toyota Hilux four wheel drive pickup truck is the gold standard of motor vehicles.

From Mongolia to Africa and throughout the developing world Toyota owns a dominant share of the automobile market. Not just trucks, but in small cars and family sedans too, the Japanese giant is the obvious top seller. Other brands are always available, of course, but anyone here will tell you that the Hilux is their dream car.

I recall once seeing a television interview with a sheep rancher in the Australian outback who explained that his sheep station is so isolated and the climate so harsh that a breakdown could easily be fatal. When you life literally depends on your vehicle, Toyota is the only choice.

On the British television programme, Top Gear, a Hilux was crushed with a wrecking ball, drowned in the ocean and then set on fire. When it survived all of that punishment, they collapsed an apartment building beneath it using explosive demolition. The truck was still drivable. Have a look, here and here. In another episode, two middle-aged, profoundly unfit Englishmen drove a Hilux to the North Pole in a race against a dog sled. You can see it here. The Hilux is apparently also the vehicle of choice for the Taliban in Afganistan, a fact that Toyota chooses not to use in its advertising.