Toyota May Get Beat to the Small, Affordable Pickup Truck Everyone Wants

Volkswagen’s brewing something special for the Brazilian market and it’s as wacky and awesome as it looks.

Side view of a pickup truck with a colorful geometric pattern wrap featuring blue, yellow, and orange shapes and black wheels.

Add Gear Patrol as a Preferred Source on Google

Published May 20, 2026

·

The battle to answer the call for an affordable small pickup in America keeps intensifying. Now, Volkswagen is apparently readying its own tiny ute.

The Wolfsburg-based automaker’s Brazilian division just teased a new open-bed concept. And if it looks familiar, that’s because it almost is.

It’s called the Tukan, and it’s following in the footsteps of a beloved, yet categorically misunderstood attempt in the Hyundai Santa Cruz. But with a big twist.

While we’d love to think it’s America-bound, it’s likely to remain off-limits to the United States. Still, it’s something for us to drool over.

A true, yet unique blending of the best of both worlds

Pickup truck with colorful blue and yellow geometric pattern parked inside a large industrial warehouse. — Volkswagen might’ve just revealed the secret sauce to a potentially successful small, affordable pickup recipe.

If the funky camouflage wasn’t already eye-catching enough, the latest Tukan is as quirky as it is interesting and cool. At least, it promises to be on paper.

Volkswagen essentially starts with its latest MQB modular architecture-based compact crossover SUV, which looks like the current Tiguan or Tayron. Then, its engineers essentially lopped off the back end, elongated the body and fitted the rear suspension with a conventional solid axle and leaf-spring setup.

View this post on Instagram

It’s as wacky as it sounds, as the Tukan blends the car-like unibody construction of crossover SUVs with an old-school truck suspension design. Normally, most crossovers have more sophisticated multi-link or fully independent rear suspension to deliver a more comfortable and car-like driving experience.

The Tukan takes a rather unconventional approach for the sake of towing and off-roading versatility. That’s because solid rear axles and leaf-spring suspension tend to be more durable and rugged in more extreme conditions.

Side view of a pickup truck with a blue and yellow geometric patterned wrap and black wheels in an industrial warehouse. — VW’s attempting its own Hyundai Santa Cruz pitch with the new Tukan, but with a twist.

It’s also cheaper to manufacture, repair and maintain, and it uses fewer parts. For a region like Brazil, where getting stuck in a remote location is much more likely, simpler is typically better and more reliable.

VW has long proven the small pickup’s viability

Blue and yellow patterned Volkswagen pickup truck with black wheels in a large industrial space next to a person in a yellow bird mascot costume wearing a Brazil soccer jersey. — The Tukan will debut during the festivities of the 2026 FIFA World Cup.

For decades, Volkswagen has proven that small pickups are viable and cater to a specific niche. This is especially true in parts of the world where an affordable price point and compact size are essential.

Brazil, along with the rest of South and Central America, is one of them. There, VW has long sold a small pickup and the Tukan is the brand’s next chapter.

Blue Volkswagen Nova Saveiro pickup truck parked on a dirt road with rocky mountains in the background at sunset. — The Tukan will sit above Volkswagen Brazil’s unique Golf-based Saveiro small pickup/ute.

Named after and inspired by the exotic bird, whose name is also Portuguese in origin, the Tukan will serve as an in-betweener. It will sit above the equally quirky and Brazil-only Saveiro and below the more global Amarok.

The Tukan’s arrival is also a part of VW’s lineup overhaul for the region. The company plans to reveal up to 21 new models for Latin America by 2028, a region that remains one of Volkswagen’s most important.

Four Volkswagen pickup trucks in gray, beige, white, and blue parked on rocky terrain under a dramatic cloudy sky. — The Tukan will also slot below the larger, midsize Amarok.

To ensure it gets proper attention, the Tukan will reportedly officially break cover during the 2026 FIFA World Cup. (Hence, the livery-based camouflage and the presence of the national team’s mascot, Selecao.)

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).

Want to stay up to date on the latest product news and releases? Add Gear Patrol as a preferred source to ensure our independent journalism makes it to the top of your Google search results.