The Japanese automaker has attacked the US automotive market like a monster tidal wave. But instead of destroying everything in its path, it tries to set the foundation for a return to the sales throne.
General Motors has the lead in terms of deliveries after the first six months of the year, but Toyota is relentless in its pursuit of the crown – look at all the novelties and all the things that are yet to come. This year they showed the Prius Prime plug-in hybrid, Corolla Cross Hybrid, the entire Corolla Nightshade family, a trio of GR special editions (GR Corolla Circuit, GR86 Trueno, GR Supra 45th Anniversary), the 2024 Grand Highlander, the Lexus TX and GX 550, plus the 2024 Tacoma and Land Cruiser superstars!
And they are not stopping there. Instead, just as we were busy falling in love with the 326-hp hybridized i-Force Max 2024 Land Cruiser version for North America (in 1958, First Edition, or Land Cruiser trims), the rumor mill caught wind that Toyota wanted to morph the compact Corolla Cross into a pickup truck that would slot as their entry-level option below the N400 Tacoma.
Of course, that whisper was enough for the imaginative realm of digital car content creators to start fantasizing about the potential implications. The most obvious ones are that Toyota has ditched the long-rumored Stout revival in favor of a less costly Corolla Cross derivative. However, some pixel masters sure took things up a notch or two.
For example, Dimas Ramadhan, the virtual automotive artist behind the Digimods DESIGN channel on YouTube, has taken up the task of revealing the rumored Corolla pickup with so much enthusiasm that he modeled the Corolla Cross Hybrid truck after the third generation XK70 Toyota Tundra full-size pickup truck! The result - in classic SR5 trim form - is pretty bonkers yet impressive, nonetheless.
Apparently, with a few subtle modifications, the Corolla Cross styling works excellently on a full-size pickup truck platform. It's rugged thanks to lots of black plastic body cladding, yet it's also stylish because the Corolla styling was conceived to please folks who usually run errands around town rather than tow and haul heavy loads. Interestingly, the author also envisioned it as a hybrid model, so perhaps he also transplanted Tundra's 437-hp i-Force Max 3.4-liter electrified twin-turbo V6 mill!
Well, that's a sight to behold – but it's also entirely wishful thinking. Of course, Toyota would never use the TNGA-F body-on-frame architecture for a pickup truck model rocking Corolla Cross styling. Instead, most likely, this will be a compact unibody affair destined to brawl with the ritzy Hyundai Santa Cruz and best-selling Ford Maverick. So, do we give this Tundra-based Corolla truck our CGI blessing or not?
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
Would you like AUTOEVOLUTION to send you notifications?
Google News