Toyota executives have suggested a future unibody truck for the U.S. could be RAV4-based, but the South American sighting of a camouflaged vehicle resembling the Corolla crossover suggests a possible other course.
The Ford Maverick currently remains unchallenged in the compact crossover-like truck space, a lucrative category that has quickly become popular with American buyers. The Ford clearly won that battle a while back, with other brands like Hyundai still selling the Santa Cruz. However, other brands are hoping to change that fast with their own products, like the recently-announced Ram Rampage. And Toyota, which has reportedly been considering the idea of a truck based on a crossover since at least last year, may be closer to putting their own bed-equipped crossover on the road than we think.
View Price on AmazonA Maverick-like Toyota prototype was spotted by Brazil's BlogAuto this week and brought to broader attention by Australia's Drive, seemingly testing in relatively light camouflage ahead of its debut. The shape of the truck suggests that it is based on the Corolla Cross, the smaller of Toyota's two compact crossover offerings in the U.S. at the moment. A relatively high bed means that it has proportions in line with the Ram Rampage currently on sale in South America, rather than the more conventionally truck-like Maverick.
Notably, Toyota North America boss Tetsuo Ogawa recently suggested that a truck based on the RAV4, not the slightly smaller Corolla Cross, would make a great opportunity for the U.S. market. Toyota builds all kinds of cars around the world and is certainly not afraid to build two very similar cars for different global markets, so it is entirely possible that this Corolla Cross-based truck is headed for South America and a slightly larger one based on the RAV4 could be headed for North America. Given how far along this truck seems to be in development, we could see one or both possible trucks revealed within the next year.
Source: roadandtrack.com
