What is your dream pickup truck that is not currently available, but if it was – you would run out and buy right now? We think these are the missed opportunities for manufacturers who are selling pickup trucks in the United States. Here are our “Shut Up, and Take My Money!” pickup trucks that we want to see very soon. Let’s dig in!
#6 – Ram Hellcat Heritage Edition
Dodge is continuing to sell the 2025 Dodge Durango SRT Hellcat 6.2L supercharged V8 Silver Bullet model. It’s expensive (at around $115,000), but it exists. Why not continue to sell a Ram 1500 Hellcat heritage edition with a retro graphics package and a supercharged V8 under the hood?
#5 – Toyota Stout
Yes, we have been talking about this a lot recently. It’s because we think Toyota would be successful with a compact RAV4-based pickup truck to compete against the Ford Maverick. If Toyota made a compact hybrid AWD pickup truck with a starting price of around $25,000. We will line up to buy one! Unfortunately, even if Toyota decides to do this – this small pickup will not reach USA dealership for a year or two (if not longer).
#4 – Ford Maverick Plug-in Hybrid
Ford is already very successful with the Maverick compact pickup. They can continue to expand on their overwhelming leadership in this segment by offering a plug-in hybrid Maverick. The Maverick is based on the Ford Escape platform that already offers a plug-in hybrid. Adopting this to the Ford Maverick should not be very difficult, unless it does not pass Ford’s “Built Ford Tough” pickup truck requirements.
Another way to extend the lead is to offer a Maverick Hybrid AWD Tremor and Maverick Hybrid AWD FX4. Neither one is available for sale in the 2025 model year.
#3 – Hyundai Santa Cruz Hybrid / Plug-in Hybrid
This point is similar to the one about the Maverick plug-in hybrid. Hyundai has a relatively successful Santa Cruz lifestyle pickup truck on sale now. It’s been refreshed for 2025, but it still does not offer a hybrid or a plug-in hybrid powertrain. The Santa Cruz is based on the chassis components shared with the Tucson and the Santa Fe SUVs. Hyundai offers hybrid and plug-in hybrid powertrains in the Tucson. They could adopt it to the Santa Cruz and make it a lot more fuel efficient.
#2 – Hybrid Heavy Duty!
We cannot figure out why no heavy-duty pickup truck manufacturer is currently offering a hybrid powertrain option with a high-powered electric inverter. The Ford F-150 Hybrid came out in 2021 with a 7.2kW / 240-volt inverter system. This is a game changer. Ford says they are on pace to sell 20% of all F-150 with a Hybrid powertrain. This means they could sell approximately 100,000 hybrid F-150s in 2024. Yet, there are no such powertrains for any heavy-duty pickup trucks that are primarily used for work and big jobs.
Who will be first to sell a hybrid heavy-duty pickup truck? We think Ford has a chance to do this. We have not heard anything from GM or Ram about a heavy-duty hybrid.
#1 – Chevy Silverado SS / ZR2 Corvette
Chevrolet has a successful Corvette sports car brand. They also have a highly successful Silverado pickup truck brand. Why not combine the two? This could take two distinct forms. One can be an off-road focused Silverado 1500 ZR2 Vette truck. Make it with a 500 hp V8 for close to $70,000 and we will say “Shut up, and take my money!”
The other form is a street performance Silverado 1500 SS truck. Chevy used to build a Silverado SS, but they have not for close to two decades. Consumer interest may be changing, and more street performance pickup trucks may be coming soon. Case in point is the 2025 Ford Maverick Lobo pickup.
Let us know what you think in the comments below!
