Toyota’s surprise new ute takes shape: 2026 Toyota Corolla or RAV4 based ute in the works to battle the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz

The scent of a ute revolution is in the air.

Carmakers far and wide are stepping back in time and embracing Holden Commodore and Ford Falcon car-based utes.

Toyota is now the latest carmaker to be connected to an SUV-based ute, according to US-outlet Automotive News.

It claimed sources said a Corolla-based ute would debut in 2027. This is after Toyota US’s Chief Operating Officer, Mark Templin, said: “We’re looking at it”, when quizzed about a small ute, according to The Japan Times.

"We could really do well in that segment, so we’re trying to do it,” Cooper Ericksen, a senior vice president in charge of planning and strategy at Toyota Motor North America, said in a separate interview with The Japan Times. "It’s a matter of timing,” he said.

Ford has laid the blueprint for an SUV-based ute — rather than ladder-frame-based workhorses such as the Toyota HiLux and Ford Ranger — with its smash hit Maverick in the US. Hyundai has also found success with its little Santa Cruz ute in the US.

Chinese brand Chery is also reportedly working on a SUV-based ute, which could land in Australia wearing a Jaecoo badge.

There are several options for a Toyota ute, with it using either the Corolla’s TNGA-C or the RAV4’s TNGA-K underpinnings. 

The TNGA-K would make sense as it would line-up with the Maverick and Santa Cruz, which are both based on their mid-size SUV equivalents the Ford Escape and Hyundai Tucson.

Hybrid power is almost a certainty and there is an opportunity for it to gain plug-in hybrid power borrowed from the recently revealed new RAV4, which is due on sale locally early next year.

New plug-in hybrid versions of the 2026 RAV4 use a 2.5-litre petrol engine and an electric motor to make 201kW in the front-wheel drive versions and 227kW in all-wheel drive variants. A big 22.7kWh battery will provide an electric-only driving range of up to 100km according to Toyota.

Conventional hybrid power is available in the new RAV4.

It is available in two- and all-wheel-drive layouts and makes 143kW, which is 17kW and 20kW down on the current 2WD and AWD versions respectively. Toyota doesn’t provide total torque figures for its hybrid tech.

Digital Artist Theottle on YouTube has given life to a RAV4-based ute in the  above images that show off what the new Toyota ute could look like.