Toyota Stout Expected To Make a Comeback After 25 Years

Following the unveiling of the EPU pickup truck concept, Toyota was caught benchmarking the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz.

Toyota was caught testing a Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz near its technical center in Michigan. In October 2023, Toyota unveiled the EPU – a midsize pickup truck concept, envisioning a durable, light utility vehicle. We have been hearing chatter about Toyota working on a new compact pickup truck and now we have more information. Back in September, Argentinian outlet, Autoweb, reported that Toyota had trademarked the Stout name in the region. With everything said so far, here's what we know about Toyota's latest plans for a light pickup truck. 

Toyota Stout returns after 25 years 

The Toyota Stout pickup truck first arrived in 1954 as a light-duty pickup truck. After three generations and 46 years, the Stout name was retired, but now, it's geared to make a comeback, which is expected to happen in 2025. Ford started something with the Maverick and Hyundai quickly joined the compact pickup truck battle with the stylish Santa Cruz. 

Built on Toyota's TNGA platform 

So far, we know Toyota's upcoming competitor to the Ford Maverick (which, for the sake of simplicity, I will call Stout from now on) and Hyundai Santa Cruz will be based on the TNGA-C platform. This means the supposed new Stout will feature a unibody platform, instead of a classic body-on-frame chassis.

Toyota aims for a towing capacity of over 5,000 pounds, which is more than Ford Maverick's 4,000-pound towing capacity and on par with the Santa Cruz’s 5,000 pounds (with the turbo engine). The compact Toyota pickup truck will not be as capable as the Tacoma, which has grown over the years, but from what we hear, it is shaping up to be a dependable workhorse, just like the original Stout. 

Toyota's compact pickup truck will not go fully electric 

Utility is the name of the game with these light-duty pickup trucks and the Toyota Stout. This automatically rules out a fully-electric powertrain for the Stout. Work trucks are meant to refuel quickly and get back to work. EVs take too long to recharge compared to a combustion engine or hybrid vehicle, which is why the Stout is expected to feature tweaked variants of the RAV4's engine options. 

The base variant will, likely, feature a 2.5-liter, Atkinson cycle, inline-four engine with 203 horsepower and 183 pound-feet of torque. Like the upcoming Toyota RAV4, the Stout pickup truck is expected to feature Toyota's fifth-generation hybrid powertrains. This means that we can expect 236 horsepower instead of the outgoing system's 218 as seen in the RAV4 and Camry.  

The Prime's hybrid powertrain could also make an appearance with a more powerful, 80kW eAxle at the rear, instead of the 54kW piece we see in the RAV4. At this point, Toyota is tight-lipped about a release date, but we will share information about this new Toyota pickup truck accordingly as we learn more. 

About the author

Dimitar Angelov's automotive interests made him an expert in a wide variety of vehicles. Japanese brands like Toyota are closest to his heart, although performance cars in general are his favorite segment, which is why he is constantly on the lookout for the best deals on the market. Dimitar Angelov's car passion and knack for the written word led him to complete a Master of Arts in Media and Communications, and classic car restoration. Dim is happy to get behind the wheel of any car and share his impressions. You can follow Dimitar on X, Linked-in, Instagram, and Facebook.