Toyota has got serious about its big pick-up: a Tundra hybrid is being mass-evaluated and may join the four-cylinder Land Cruiser 70 Series.

While the reduction of carbon emissions may not be the first thing people think of when they see Toyota’s big Tundra or Land Cruiser 70 Series utilities, the move to hybrid and four-cylinder power respectively represent an important step in Toyota’s approach to electrification and CO2 emission reductions.

In a Toyota first, 300 examples of the Tundra will be converted to right-hand drive locally by Toyota partner Walkinshaw Automotive Group and leased to selected potential customers for a real-world evaluation and validation programmme.

The company says it is continuing to develop hybrid-electric vehicles, and the big news around that right now is Tundra. The 300 prototype vehicles will be delivered progressively between December this year and April 2024.

That sounds like a serious first step into the big-pick-up market – and the first such hybrid offering down-under.