With a swift move, Hyundai and Ford competitively brought back to our attention the defunct compact pickup truck sector of the American automotive market.
After many trials and tribulations, the South Korean automaker dared to venture into the unknown with its first four-door pickup truck sold in the North American region. The vehicle is based on the outlandish Tucson and uses a unibody chassis setup to save costs while production occurs at HMMA (Hyundai Motor Manufacturing Alabama) in Montgomery, Alabama.
Because it took them some time from concept to reality, Ford dared to join them in a bid to revive the love for pocket-sized pickup trucks – and its reborn Maverick nameplate (previously a compact car) came out on the market a bit more rugged, electrified, and even cheaper, partly because it's built in Mexico on the same platform as the Escape and Bronco Sport compact crossover SUVs.
The rest is history – Blue Oval's little pickup truck has taken the market by storm, and rivals are reportedly considering stealing its crown. Many rumors around the mill revolve around Toyota or Subaru. While the former attacking Ford and Hyundai with either a Corolla Cross derivative or a Stout revival is a no-brainer, some think that Subie making a move in the field could be even more interesting given their BRAT and Baja past along with the traditional boxer engine and symmetrical AWD setup.
Naturally, the imaginative realm of digital car content creators is also on point trying to envision the unofficial looks of either the BRAT or Baja revivals – and recently, the good folks over at the Car Review Channel and REC Trends channels on YouTube wanted to unleash their visions of the reborn Subaru Baja mini truck.
The resident pixel master from Car Review Channel went for a completely logical approach where the revived unibody compact pickup truck would be a severe workhorse trying to outdo the strengths of the Ford Maverick rival. The unofficial design comes with all the Subie styling we have come to expect from models like the Crosstrek or Outback, along with rugged traits – and we can easily perceive a bit of Toyota (Hilux) influence in the project.
That would align more or less with the current requirements for making an efficient and affordable unibody compact pickup truck. On the other hand, the CGI expert from REC Trends, probably assisted by AI software, went wild and gave us a futuristic take on the Subie Baja subject – that would probably work better to rival the ritzier Hyundai Santa Cruz rather than Ford's down-to-Earth Maverick. As for powertrains – there's consensus: boxer mills for gas-powered variants and something borrowed from Toyota if Subie wants to go hybrid or PHEV.
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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