If you look at the US market's sales charts for the first six months of 2023 and select the mid-size pickup truck segment, you will see a couple of surprising facts.
For starters, although everyone and their mother knew that Toyota would announce an all-new, hybridized 2024 Tacoma as the fourth-generation N400 model, the customers were undeterred in securing an example as soon as possible. As such, the Japanese model remained king of the charts during H1.
Secondly, the 'Yota was followed by the new Frontier, Colorado, and something quirky that came before the premium Gladiator – as all of them fared worse than during the first six months of 2022. Instead, the only mid-size pickup truck that isn't a body-on-frame apparition, Honda's Ridgeline, beat the Gladiator by a smidgen of sales, and also the Ranger and GMC Canyon with a 38.6% jump in deliveries compared to the same period last year.
That's pretty interesting, right? As such, some more people are starting to think that they don't need a true workhorse with body-on-frame off-road capabilities, but a unibody lifestyle product will suffice. And, of course, it is so much easier to sell a compact model rather than a mid-size or full-size pickup truck, right?
Well, Ford is already doing that with the reinvented Maverick nameplate in the United States, and General Motors plus Ram have also joined the unibody party – albeit a bit Southern to the border, in Latin America, with the Chevrolet Montana and Ram Rampage. Speaking of the latter, many folks think this is a compelling choice, a model that puts looks and sportiness with a 268-hp Hurricane 4 powertrain version above all else.
Naturally, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators has also taken notice of its charm and has used it for various purposes. Just recently, for example, the virtual artist known as Theottle on social media has resorted to CGI slicing and dicing a popular compact crossover SUV and the Ram Rampage to achieve an imagined 'CR-U' pickup truck project of the compact unibody variety.
The main idea exposed by the pixel master is simple: he believes automakers need to acknowledge there's a growing demand for unibody lifestyle pickups, and the successful Honda CR-V is maybe a perfect candidate for a transformation when considering the company's prior experience with the larger Ridgeline. The moniker is also easy to understand – 'U' stands for utility. But why the Ram Rampage DNA is anyone's guess.
Maybe it's because the CR-V and Rampage worked seamlessly when compiled into a fairly large unibody compact pickup truck with a chameleonic appearance – the final POVs depict a couple of versions in white (with or without black plastic cladding and additional protections), while the blue option also comes neatly ruggedized! So, does it look ready to fight Mavericks 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
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