Toyota’s most popular vehicle, the RAV4 crossover, received a pretty big update for the 2026 model year. The latest small SUV will now offer only hybrid powertrains, ranging from an entry-level 226 horsepower to 320 on plug-in hybrid models. The modernized RAV4 also looks pretty good, with an upright and squared-off design that’s a little more aggressive and rugged than its predecessor. Incidentally, the new styling would look mighty good as a pickup, as proven by the YouTube channel Theottle. Starting with a RAV4 Woodland and using a Brazilian-market Ram Rampage as a template, the unofficial rendering has us hankering for a Toyota-flavored rival to the Hyundai Santa Cruz and Ford Maverick.
- Base Trim Engine
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2.5L Inline 4 Hybrid
- Base Trim Transmission
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CVT
- Base Trim Drivetrain
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Front-Wheel Drive
One Tasty-Looking Mini Taco
From the B-pillar forward, the Theottle design looks identical to the new RAV4, boasting its new, Toyota-corporate boomerang headlights and off-road front grille with Rigid LED foglights. However, move around to the side and you see a wheelbase that’s been extended about a foot to make room for an open-air cargo area. The pickup truck’s rear overhang is also a little longer, helping balance out the longer rear doors of the RAV4 ute. The digital designer also reshaped the crossover’s plastic rocker panel extensions to match the broader footprint.
Like its theoretical Ford and Hyundai competition, the RAV4 pickup would retain unibody construction, which Theottle evidences with seamless bodysides that maintain the crossover’s chiseled edges. But the digital design still includes some design features from Toyota’s conventional body-on-frame trucks, including taillights cribbed from the Tacoma and a tailgate stamped with the model name: RAV4, in this case. The SUV’s crisp, pointed design language works well on a pickup, and the longer wheelbase would mean good things for both cargo-carrying ability and interior versatility – cubbies under and behind the rear seat, for example.
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Pickup Truck Pros And Cons
The Ford Maverick, which is essentially a pickup version of the Escape crossover, has proven to be a popular addition to the Blue Oval’s stable. Unfortunately, Hyundai hasn’t had the same success with its Tucson-based Santa Cruz pickup. Whether a truckified Toyota RAV4 would succeed or fail depends on if it offers something novel to the segment, as well as how it’s marketed. The hybrid Maverick, for example, sells in big numbers because it packs compact-car fuel economy with pickup versatility. One would expect Toyota to benchmark that model’s 38 miles per gallon combined in order to offer a prospective consumer something “more.”
A supposed RAV4 pickup – perhaps called the Stout? – could also borrow some of the Santa Cruz’s appealing practicality traits, like a lockable in-bed trunk and built-in bed cover. And if Toyota saw fit to offer its crossover truck with a fold-down rear bulkhead, à la the midgate found on the GMC Sierra EV, then it could be a real success. In our opinion, the only real drawback to a compact truck over a crossover is the inability to haul long cargo without sticking it out the back, and a midgate would solve that. Toyota has reportedly been considering adding a sub-Tacoma truck to its lineup for some time now, and we think the automaker would do well to consider Theottle’s design as a starting point.
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Source: Theottle/YouTube
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