The Toyota Corolla-based ute isn’t a new project, prototype reveals – report

Unverified reports in recent months have suggested Toyota is working on a new unibody ute, based on the Corolla – a vehicle which could compete with the likes of the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz in overseas markets.

However, a new video has been posted online showing a small ute – created from a previous-generation Corolla – on the back of a Toyota-branded tow truck, pulling into a Toyota factory in South Africa.

Small car-based utes are popular in South Africa, where pick-ups of all kind are known as 'bakkies'.

First reported by local website Cars.co.za, the video from Ryan Hawker Motor on YouTube confirms a Corolla ute has been a serious proposition at Toyota for longer than previously thought.

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"The vehicle you see in that is a prototype – and the model was under study at the time,” a spokesperson for Toyota South Africa told the publication.

They also confirmed the unibody ute "was modelled on the previous-generation Corolla Quest" and is "therefore not in development".

While Toyota has been known to drop current or previous-generation vehicle bodies onto new-generation chassis – so as to hide development in plain sight, as with the LandCruiser 300 Series and Prado – it's unlikely this is the case in this instance, given the Corolla is a unibody vehicle and does not have a ladder-frame chassis.

The prototype does confirm a small Corolla-based ute has been more than a passing thought for Toyota.

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A report from publication Automotive News last month suggests the idea of a smaller pick-up has gained traction in the US – in the wake of the success of small 'lifestyle' utes from Ford and Hyundai.

In October 2022, the Japanese car giant applied to trademark Stout – a model name it previously used on a ute manufactured in the 1960s and 1970s.

Toyota recently unveiled its new small ute in Indonesia, though it's thought the model is being made exclusively for developing Southeast Asian markets.