The reborn US compact pickup truck sector feels pretty light at the moment, with only the hybrid or EcoBoost Ford Maverick whooping the bed-equipped, ritzier Hyundai Santa Cruz as if there's no tomorrow.
The latter is trying to stage a comeback as it is almost ready to unleash the thoroughly updated 2025 model year with a few refreshing novelties after it was presented alongside the facelifted 2025 Hyundai Tucson at the 2024 edition of the New York International Auto Show. It's a little more rugged and better prepared to handle the one and only local foe – but it still doesn't feature a hybrid powertrain.
Meanwhile, the Blue Oval company isn't sitting idle with the 2025 Ford Maverick on account of its nameplate being America's favorite small truck last year and also during the first quarter of 2024. Instead, the rumor mill has already caught instances of 2025MY prototypes with light camouflage – speculation involves potential minor styling upgrades, the introduction of the expected Maverick Lobo trim, as well as some tech goodies in the cockpit – including SYNC 4 for the infotainment suite. Alas, they're still very much involved in a two-way battle.
No worries, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators keeps hoping that a third contender will arise and swipe the crown while also whipping the floor with the two inattentive brawlers. For example, many believe that Toyota could bring out a Stout revival or at least derive the Corolla Cross into a compact, unibody pickup truck for North America. Over time, though, these ideas died out as Toyota chased other segments with the N400 Tacoma, the reborn Land Cruiser, or the all-new 2025 4Runner.
Interestingly, Subaru's potential cousin of said Toyota models is still on the CGI menu for various pixel masters, though. More precisely, Dimas Ramadhan, the virtual automotive artist behind the Digimods DESIGN channel on YouTube, has taken up the task of CGI-revealing a reborn Baja HEV. So, instead of bringing back the BRAT, this author thinks Subie would be better off with a hybrid revival of the original Baja from 2003-2006.
This time around, it is styled as a regular four-door pickup truck with no traces of quirky design traits. Obviously, the unofficial design idea also makes use of the latest DNA from Subaru – the front fascia, along with the headlights and taillights, is almost the same as on the sixth-generation (SL) 2025 Subaru Forester. The profile is different, though, and the hypothetical 2025 Subaru Baja also comes back on the CGI market with a healthy HEV powertrain under the hood instead of Forester's classic 2.5-liter FB25 H4 boxer engine.
So, if this alleged 2025 Subaru Baja Hybrid was real, would you choose it over the near-premium, refreshed 2025 Hyundai Santa Cruz or the upcoming 2025 Ford Maverick Hybrid facelift?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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