Toyota took to social media earlier today to release a single teaser photo, along with a snippet that something new is on the horizon. The teaser is your typical shadowy shot, so it doesn’t reveal a whole lot, but what it does reveal has certainly piqued our interest, as it looks like it could be a new pickup truck. At least that’s what it looks like on first impressions.
At first glance, the depicted vehicle looks like it could be a pickup truck viewed from the rear, but the low angle the photo is taken from could make this an illusion – meaning it could just as easily be an SUV’s tailgate we’re looking at.
Unfortunately, there’s no other official information to go on, including a reveal date, but we do know about some US-bound vehicles Toyota has in the pipeline. One of these is a Ford Maverick rival, which was possibly previewed by 2023’s EPU concept. There have also been hints of an electric Tacoma. Toyota revealed a concept for one back in 2021, though it didn’t confirm whether the vehicle would actually make it to production. Another possibility is an electric three-row SUV that’s destined to be built in Kentucky.
Given the way the sides of the vehicle angle inward as they reach the hip line, it likely means it isn’t an electric version of the Tacoma that we’re looking at. The Tacoma’s sides are more vertical, and having them angle inward so sharply for the EV would drastically reduce the size of the bed. And given the poor sales of existing electric trucks like Ford’s F-150 Lightning, which has just been axed (with an extended-range electric successor planned), Toyota would probably want to hold off on launching an electric Tacoma for now.
Rendering artist Theo Throttle took digital pen to the recently revealed 2026 RAV4, turning it into a Ford Maverick rival.
That makes the Maverick rival a much stronger possibility. The EPU concept shown in 2023 featured a design that looked largely production-ready and incorporated an LED taillight light bar, albeit with a different execution than what appears in the teaser. The concept measured 199.6 inches long, putting it squarely in Maverick territory, and it rode on a car-like unibody platform – another key trait shared with Ford’s compact truck. However, the EPU was fully electric, and any production version would likely swap that setup for an internal-combustion engine paired with a hybrid system, once again mirroring the hugely popular Maverick’s approach.
Rumors have circulated for years about Toyota launching a compact pickup in the US, and a senior Toyota official indicated last year that the project had already been green-lit, with timing being the only remaining question. With real-world transaction prices for most Tacomas now hovering near $40,000, there’s clearly room in the lineup for a smaller pickup priced closer to $30,000. This wouldn’t be Toyota’s first attempt at a compact truck, and it could be the perfect opportunity to revive the Stout name, last used around the turn of the millennium on the brand’s third-generation light-duty pickup.
There’s still a chance the vehicle is actually some kind of SUV. Toyota is known to be developing two electric SUVs for the US market. Although they were announced as early as 2023, weak EV demand and changes in production plans caused delays for both. The first is now scheduled to begin production at Toyota’s Kentucky plant in early 2026, with the second following at the same plant in late 2027. The timeline for the first suggests this teaser could be that SUV.
The first will be a three-row SUV that CarBuzz has reported will likely carry the Highlander name. It will be EV-only, leaving the Grand Highlander as the option for buyers who still want an internal-combustion engine. The design for this electric SUV is thought to have been previewed as far back as 2021 with the bZ Large SUV concept. As for the second electric SUV, rumors suggest it could belong to either the RAV4 family or the Land Cruiser family. Stay tuned.
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