2025 Subaru Baja and Toyota Stout Hybrid Pocket Trucks Meet Across Imagination Land

The automotive industry is only taking a very small break from the whirlpool of events and is diligently preparing to start a fresh tidal wave of novelties in 2024 at the first main event – CES 2024 in Las Vegas, Nevada, between January 9 and 12. Of course, we don't know the entire roster of launches, but we can easily bet that automakers are not missing in action.

For example, the parallel universes of vehicular CGI would love to see a couple of the rumor mill's most reported vehicles coming to life there. Toyota has been a staple of new model introductions across 2023, and a lot of rumors have been running up and down the mill about how the Japanese automaker will not only feature the N400 Tacoma as the returning king of the mid-size pickup truck sector but also will dare to attack the smaller throne of the Ford Maverick unibody compact pickup truck.

Most outlets report that Toyota is considering morphing the new Corolla Cross into a unibody compact pickup truck to spend the lowest amount of money possible. Others believe the company will revive the iconic Stout moniker for an all-new vehicle. And, to hedge the costs, it won't come alone to the pocket-sized truck segment. Instead, Subaru will allegedly join them in yet another interesting partnership.

The latter also has a couple of possibilities. They could either bring back the original BRAT coupe utility or work out a rebirth of the four-door Baja nameplate. Now, the good folks over at the Car Review Channel and TheAutoReport channels on YouTube want to unleash their visions of the Stout and Baja mini trucks, as they have clearly chosen their sides. And what makes them attractive is that both would hypothetically come with hybrid powertrains.

The pixel master from TheAutoReport allows the power of AI software to produce a variety of potential designs for the alleged Subaru Baja compact pickup truck return – something that hasn't been confirmed by the automaker in any way, actually. Meanwhile, the CGI expert over at the Car Review Channel also has a multitude of design variations for their unofficial Toyota Stout project – from ones that the new Tacoma inspires to others that are entirely futuristic.

As an essential conclusion, both outlets' hosts believe that if Toyota and Subaru return to the unibody compact pickup truck sector, they will most likely use a hybrid powertrain. The most logical suspect is the Corolla Cross Hybrid, which has an electrified 2.0-liter M20A-FXS inline-four producing a combined output of 196 horsepower – and the Stout and Baja duo could ultimately share this setup in the future.