The virtual reinvention of the 2025 Toyota Stout looks very cheap but beautiful

When you think of America and the pickup truck segment, it’s easy to remember that Ford’s record-breaking F-Series reigns supreme over the sales crown, followed by the relentless Chevy Silverado (plus the GMC Sierra) and Ram’s chasers. Few dare to question the king’s throne, like Toyota’s Tundra or Nissan’s Titan.

When it comes to the midsize pickup truck segment, the situation is reversed – the Toyota Tacoma is the best seller of all time, and the Nissan Frontier isn’t too bad either. However, the all-new Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon had a thing or two to say about that during the third quarter of the year when Tacoma sales fell below the usual threshold as everyone prepared for the arrival of the new N400 version.

Going further down the ladder in the compact pickup truck segment, the renaissance is in its infancy, and the only representatives are the Hyundai Santa Cruz as well as the electrified Ford Maverick. Regarding the latter, there is no doubt – it has been a smashing success, and in the third quarter of this year, it outsold its only competitor by nearly 15 thousand units! Produced in Mexico, it’s born on the same platform as the Ford Escape and Bronco Sport, and currently starts at $23,400 for the 2024 model year with the 2.0-liter EcoBoost engine, while the 2.5-liter hybrid now commands a $24,900 premium.

Interestingly, there has been talk of potential new rivals ever since Hyundai and Ford began deliveries of their Santa Cruz and Maverick adventure vehicles. But for now, the Pioneers are still on their own, with talk of Ram bringing its new Rampage to North America, Subaru reviving the BRAT or Baja nameplates, bringing back Toyota’s Stout or deriving the Corolla Cross into a unibody compact pickup truck. Just whispers sent flying through the rumor mill.

Interestingly, everyone – including the fictional world of digital car content creators – has a vision of how they should all act to try to conquer and carve up the segment occupied by the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz. Some believe Subaru could easily counter both by reviving the coupe, others believe luck favors the bold Rampage, and some even dare to dream of Toyota’s return to the North American compact pickup truck segment.

For example, the virtual artist behind CarsVision A YouTube channel imagined how Japanese automaker Toyota could threaten Maverick’s dominance and envisioned a revival of Stout, which is the exact definition of the word as defined by the Merriam-Webster dictionary: “strong of character/strong physically or materially/strongly built.” What do you think? Could this sweet little truck conquer the market if it was offered at a cheap price of around $25,000?