A Subaru pickup? Yes, a Subaru pickup. That’s what our man Theo Chin has cooked up for us today. And it’s not as crazy as it may seem at first.
Subaru stands in the minority among mainstream, mass-market Japanese automakers that does not compete in the enormous market for pickup trucks in the United States. Toyota, Nissan, and Honda do. Mazda, Mitsubishi, and Subaru do not, at present. But they each did not so long ago.
As recently as 2006, Subaru offered a version of the Outback with a pickup bed called the Baja. Now that (in relative Chevy terms) was closer in form to an El Camino than it was to the Colorado or Silverado.
That only makes sense, since – despite its embracing of all-wheel drive and off-road ruggedness – Subaru has not jumped into the SUV market the way its rivals have. The Forester only gradually grew into proper sport-ute dimensions over successive generations, and the Tribeca… well, that was a complete flop.
The Viziv-7 concept presented last week at the LA Auto Show shows what we hope will emerge as a more successful successor to the Tribeca. And though unlikely, it could potentially lead to a pickup version as well.
If it did, it would (like the Hyundai Santa Cruz) probably emerge closer in form to the first-generation Honda Ridgeline than to the Nissan Navara upon which the artist evidently applied the Viziv’s styling cues. But hey, if Renault and Mercedes can base their pickups on the Nissan, why not Subaru, too?
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