Here’s what you can expect from the PH-made Toyota Tamaraw

Probably one of the most highly-anticipated vehicles to come to the Philippine market in the last year, the Toyota Tamaraw is closer to its comeback as Toyota Motor Philippines (TMP) has given us a closer preview of the light commercial vehicle a few weeks ago during the Toyota Road Trek 17 in Davao City.

The all-new Toyota Tamaraw was initially previewed as the IMV 0 Concept in Thailand in late 2022 where it is now known as the Hilux Champ. It is set for a local launch by the fourth quarter of this year.

Assembly will be at TMP’s Santa Rosa, Laguna manufacturing plant and will be badged as Hilux Tamaraw. This is similar to how the Toyota Zenix is badged as the Innova Zenix despite being a separate model here. In the same way, the Tamaraw will remain as a separate model from the local Hilux lineup. 

Do note that the Tamaraw units you are seeing in the photos here are prototypes, but already assembled locally. This simply means changes are still possible before the vehicle is launched.

Design-wise, the all-new Tamaraw is largely identical, if not the same as the concept versions, wearing what Toyota calls Retro Polygon styling. The front fascia is composed of rugged design details including but not limited to its plastic bumpers, and squared-out headlights. The side is all utilitarian with 14-inch steel wheels while the rear features a set of simple rectangular taillights. 

Its interior screams utility with its rectangular theme mixed with a few round elements such as on the airconditioning vents. Depending on the variant, you’ll find that the steering wheel has been lifted straight off the Hilux and Fortuner, or the Vios.

Moving forward and speaking of variants, the all-new Toyota Tamaraw will be available in multiple body styles—dropside pickup, FX, closed cargo van, ambulance, and patrol vehicle. You can check out each one below:

As for other features and equipment, these are not clear yet as of this writing but being a utility or commercial vehicle, the all-new Tamaraw will be as barebones as it gets. We can expect it to come with the basics such as steel wheels, a 2DIN audio head unit (7-inch touchscreen for higher variants), manual airconditioning, and vinyl seat material.

Two powertrain options may be made available for the Toyota Tamaraw—a gasoline and turbodiesel option.

The first possible option for the all-new Toyota Tamaraw will be a 2.0-liter 1TR-FE Inline 4-cylinder gasoline engine with dual VVT-i. This produces 139 horsepower and 183 Nm of torque, exclusively mated to a 5-speed manual transmission.

Meanwhile, likely to be the more popular choice is the oil-burning 2.4-liter 2GD-FTV Inline 4-cylinder turbodiesel engine. With a 5-speed manual transmission, this produces 150 horsepower and 343 Nm of torque, while getting the 6-speed automatic transmission option bumps up torque to 400 Nm.

Do those powertrains sound familiar? That’s because the former was previously available on the local-spec Toyota Innova, while the latter is what can be found on the local-spec Toyota Hilux and Fortuner. And yes, the all-new Tamaraw will be available with a self-shifting transmission.

Pricing for the all-new Toyota Tamaraw is also not available yet as of this writing but we’ll be sure to update everyone once that is out.

In the meantime, check out our quick look at the all-new Toyota Tamaraw from the 45th Bangkok International Motor Show a few months ago: