Last year, the US automotive market's sales rebounded fully and registered the best performance since the pandemic – around 15.5 million vehicles, according to Reuters, citing data released by Wards Intelligence and figures from consultant Cox Automotive.
The mix also includes no less than 17% electrified vehicles, including hybrids, PHEVs, and fully electric models. Interestingly, everyone expects Toyota to get a significant share of the hybrid royalties, but how about a little Ford outperforming its bigger sibling, especially if the latter is part of the best-selling F-Series family?
As it turns out, according to the 2023 small truck sales report, the affordable Ford Maverick copiously asserted its dominance over the only other unibody compact pickup truck currently offered in America – Hyundai's Tucson-based Santa Cruz. Built in Mexico and sharing its underpinnings with the Ford Escape and Bronco Sport, the pocket-sized Maverick sold almost three times better than the Hyundai Santa Cruz – mostly thanks to its rugged looks, affordable price, and hybrid powertrain availability.
In fact, the Ford Maverick Hybrid sold better last year than Ford's F-150 PowerBoost! Naturally, this performance invites a lot of envy, and the rumor mill reports that a lot of automakers are thinking about competing against the Maverick and Santa Cruz – from Ram with its Brazilian Rampage to members of the Japanese community. As far as the latter are concerned, most whispers revolve around Toyota and Subaru, as it turns out.
The rant about the larger Toyota is easy to understand – they have command over the mid-size pickup truck sector with the Tacoma. They probably would also love to try and assert dominance over the smaller segment. Thus, there have been many rumors about a potential revival of the Stout nameplate or a hypothetical derivative of the Corolla Cross CUV. Interestingly, a lot of folks would also love to see a contender from Subaru.
Or at least the imaginative realm of digital car content creators wants that. Curiously, most of them have not been able to settle on a potential candidate – some rooting with the older BRAT coupe utility and many others thinking that a reborn Baja four-door unibody compact pickup truck would be a lot better. Well, there's also a third opinion now.
More precisely, this virtual artist, known as Theottle on social media, has resorted to CGI slicing and dicing the all-new sixth generation (SL) 2025 Subaru Forester CUV into a Maverick-fighting unibody truck. In the pixel master's latest behind-the-scenes making-of video, we get to see the quick transformation from crossover SUV to a longer-wheelbase Forester 'Ute' – actually a fully-fledged Double Cab four-door unibody compact pickup truck.
So, do you think a Subaru Forester 'Ute' would stand a chance against the ultra-popular Ford Maverick, or is it doomed to fail just like the Hyundai Santa Cruz because it's too close to the donor SUV in terms of styling and also lacks a fuel-efficient hybrid option?
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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