Pickup trucks are by far the most popular vehicles in the United States — Ford alone sold more than 828,000 F-Series models last year — and it seems like new trucks are getting introduced or teased all the time. Just this week Kia confirmed it’s working on a body-on-frame pickup, and Hyundai is doing the same, both to be introduced by 2030. Ford is soon coming out with a new compact electric truck, Ram is bringing back the Dakota, and we’re waiting with bated breath for trucks from startups like Scout and Slate.
But which automaker should be next to introduce a new pickup truck? That’s the question I’m posing to you today. Your answer can be from a company that’s never made a pickup, one that used to make pickups but doesn’t anymore, or from a brand that makes lots of trucks. I’ll accept answers from all sorts of different segments too, whether you want a cheap, affordable truck from a mainstream automaker, or something wild and expensive from, I don’t know, Lamborghini. A Lambo truck would be pretty cool.
My idea
There’s one company that’s made pickups in the past but no longer does that I think needs to get back to it: Subaru. Where the hell is a new Baja, Subaru? It seems like such a no-brainer. Produced from 2002 to 2006, the Baja was essentially an Outback with a bed and more whimsical styling cues. It had a useful midgate feature, a surprising amount of cargo space, and an available turbo engine and manual transmission. Plus it just looked freakin’ cool, and you could get it in yellow!
The Baja wasn’t exactly a sales success, but these days I think a new Baja would be a more palatable proposition. Midsize trucks have seen a surge in popularity in recent years — just look at the Ford Maverick — and I think the latest generation of Outback would be a great basis for a new Baja. It would certainly look truckier and perform well off-road, especially as Subaru would have to do a Wilderness version. Or maybe Subaru could spin a new Baja off of the great Trailseeker EV to do battle with Ford’s upcoming compact truck. Regardless of how Subaru does it, I think the industry is ready for a Baja revival.
But what about you? Which automaker do you think needs to make a new truck, and what sort of truck should it be? Let me know in the comments, and I’ll round up my favorite answers next week.
