After Mahindra Scorpio, India Army gets a fleet of Toyota Hilux pick-up trucks

Toyota Kirloskar Motor has announced that they have delivered a fleet of Toyota Hilux to the Indian Army. The Hilux was put through over 2 months of extensive and rigorous evaluation by the Northern Command of the Indian Army. The pick-up truck was tested in extreme weather and rough terrains – ranging from an altitude of 13,000 ft to sub-zero temperatures.

The Hilux has become an icon globally. It is known for its reliability and off-road capability. Both of which the Indian army wants from a vehicle. Powering the Hilux is a 2.8-litre, four-cylinder diesel engine that produces 201 bhp of max power and a peak torque output of 420 Nm in the manual gearbox and 500 Nm in the automatic transmission. Both transmissions are a 6-speed unit and there is a 4x4 system on offer as standard.

The Hilux is offered in two variants - STD and High. The STD is offered only with a manual gearbox whereas the High variant gets a manual gearbox as well as an automatic transmission. The price of the Hilux starts at ₹30.40 lakh and goes up to ₹37.90 lakh. Both prices are ex-showroom.

Mahindra and Mahindra recently delivered the first batch of the Scorpio Classic to the Indian Army. The manufacturer received an order of 1,850 units of Scorpio Classic from the Indian Army. Back in January, Mahindra got an order of 1,470 units of Scorpio Classics that were supposed to be deployed to 12 units of the Indian Army.

Watch: Toyota unveils Hilux lifestyle utility vehicle in India

As of now, the Indian Army is already using Tata Xenon, Force Gurkha, Maruti Suzuki Gypsy and Tata Safari among others. Tata Motors modified the Safari for the Indian Army. The modified version was called Safari GS800. As of now, it is not known whether Mahindra and Toyota will be modifying the Scorpio Classic and the Hilux.