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The Tiny Toyota Pickup Truck Everyone Wants Is Already Happening

And it’s coming from a very unlikely starting point.

Front view of a white Toyota car with illuminated headlights and fog light on a wet road at night.Toyota
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By Chris Chin

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With the demand for smaller and more affordable pickups exploding, the hype around who will win the race in America is also ramping up. Will it be Nissan? Ram? Heck, even Volkswagen? Or Toyota?

Well, apparently, Toyota might be first. New spy shots just surfaced from Brazil of what looks to be quite the oddball. Yet, it also looks like the sort of small pickup everyone’s been clamoring for.

But its supposed starting point is a bit unconventional and not quite what we had in mind.

A new small pickup based on the… Corolla Cross?

Close-up of white Toyota Corolla Cross rear with black model name badge and part of the taillight.
Do you think a pickup based on the Corolla Cross would fly in America?

According to the spy photographers and numerous reports, the prototype in the pictures is a new small pickup based on the Toyota Corolla Cross. Yes, you read that correctly.

That means it sports a car-like unibody, as opposed to the more conventional body-on-frame construction. And judging from the pictures, it looks like engineers simply took the Corolla Cross and chopped off its rear end.

In place of the normal rear cargo space is an open bed and a drop-down door. Other notable details are also visible, such as more squared-off wheel arches, a reworked side-shoulder line and integrated roof rails. The body’s wheelbase also appears elongated to complement the extra rear bedspace.

Red and blue Toyota SUVs parked side by side on a desert road with rocky terrain and sparse vegetation.
The Corolla Cross is already one of Toyota’s top-selling models, so why not a pickup version?
Toyota

According to reports from Brazil’s BlogAuto, the new model will join a growing pack of car-based pickups. They’re supposedly a popular item in the South American country.

Preexisting competitors include the Ford Maverick, Fiat Toro, Ram Rampage and the Volkswagen Saveiro.

Could this be the ultimate small pickup solution?

Pickup truck with colorful blue and yellow geometric pattern parked inside a large industrial warehouse.
Volkswagen’s also working on a new, compact car-based pickup for Brazil, but it likely won’t see American shores.
Volkswagen Brazil

The new spy shots and emergence of the prototype interestingly and coincidentally came after Toyota North America’s CEO, Tetsuo Ogawa, openly expressed the brand’s interest in the compact and affordable pickup space.

But Ogawa mentioned the prospect could root its beginnings with the larger, compact RAV4 rather than the Corolla Cross as seen in the spy photos. That’s because the apparent intended target is to rival the Ford Maverick.

Orange RAM pickup truck with black grille and hood stripes driving on rocky terrain.
Ram also introduced the small Rampage specifically for Brazil, but now, they’re working to adapt it for US shores.
Ram Trucks

Even if Toyota proceeds building a pickup based on the RAV4, there’s still room and the possibility for an even smaller pickup. The Corolla Cross sits below the RAV4 as an affordable, subcompact alternative.

But only time will reveal who’ll be first to the cheap, small affordable pickup punch here in America. And hopefully, it won’t go the way of the awesomely underappreciated Hyundai Santa Cruz.

About the Author: Chris Chin is an associate editor at Gear Patrol, covering cars, trucks and anything else with four wheels. He has over a decade of experience writing news and reviews but considers himself an enthusiast first, with a passion for classics and European cars. His daily driver is a 1987 Mercedes-Benz 560SEL with nearly 250,000 miles (87,000 are his).

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