The Japanese automaker has a few introductions for the North American market carefully lined up during 2023, including the all-new Crown crossover sedan, the Prius ‘Hybrid Reborn,’ or the potential Grand Highlander SUV.
However, there might be some bad news for truck enthusiasts, somewhere along the line. With the Tundra still fresh and the third-generation Tacoma also going strong as far as deliveries are concerned, there may be no pickup reveal lined up for the queue. Well, at least in the real world.
Meanwhile, over across the imaginative realm of virtual automotive artists, things could not be more different – at least as far as Dimas Ramadhan, the digital content car creator behind the Digimods DESIGN channel on YouTube, is concerned. His reel is brimming with pickup trucks, both small and big. But if we are to pick a favorite segment, the mid-size sector is definitely a top contender for the CGI crown.
As such, we have recently seen just about everything. Including a 2024 Ford Ranger Raptor that digitally hit North America with refreshed F-150-inspired styling, a 2025 Mitsubishi Triton (L200) that felt modern enough to pursue a CGI Ford Ranger and VW Amarok battle, the fourth-gen 2024 Nissan Navara looking more akin to a stylish Aryia EV than the usual Pro-4X workhorse, and an all-new Chevy Colorado looking like a small Silverado ‘RS’ or the 2024 Toyota Tacoma flaunting subtle next-gen TRD Pro cues in yet another unofficial rendering.
Speaking of the latter, the Tacoma (which sits comfortably atop its segment in the United States) is again a visiting CGI star on the pixel master’s YT roll call, this time around updated for the 2025 or even the 2026 model year. Interestingly, on this occasion, the author decided to throw away any digital caution. As such, this imagined Tacoma does not look and feel like a proper Toyota anymore.
Instead, the front reminds me of a botched attempt at making the current, third-generation Isuzu D-Max (which is twinned with Mazda’s BT-50 now, by the way) feel even more rugged and reminiscent of the bygone era of yellow-tinted headlights. Plus, are those ‘CX-50’ letters imprinted on the hood, or what?! Anyway, it gets even worse at the rear. Over there, any sense of logic is thrown down the drain, flushed, and never remembered – those taillights are directly ripped off the Hyundai Tucson. Plus, there are both integrated exhaust outlets into the bumper along with the usual truck-style pipe…
Oh well, such are the ways of these unofficial renderings. Some are better than real life, and you will be saddened by the knowledge they will forever remain just wishful thinking. Others just make you cringe or downright cry because they’re worse than Mercedes scaring kids with toothy, horror-like 3D animated characters.
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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