Toyota has quietly registered the GR Hilux name in Australia, hinting that the company could be injecting its Gazoo Racing goodness into the Hilux.

While Australia is no stranger to high-performance pick-up trucks (much of the Ford Ranger Raptor’s development work was done in Australia), could the GR Hilux find its way to Malaysia?

After all, Toyota Malaysia is promoting the Gazoo Racing brand aggressively, which started with the Toyota Gazoo Racing (TGR) Racing Festival back in 2017.

Then there’s the GR halo models – the GR Supra is the first GR-branded model to be offered here, and the GR Yaris is set to be the next.

However, these two GR-branded models are well beyond the reach of many Malaysians, which brings us to the GR Hilux.

A high-performance Toyota Hilux would certainly be fitting of the GR branding – not only it will bring the GR brand to a more attainable level, it could potentially challenge other well-established rivals.

As such, if the GR Hilux does materialize, it would certainly carve out a nice niche for itself - a high-performance, go-anywhere pick-up truck backed by Toyota’s rock-solid reliability and excellent after sales.

Now, where do I sign for one?