The pickup market has spent years moving toward bigger dimensions, more complicated technology and higher prices. A handful of upcoming trucks are heading in a different direction. Some promise lower prices and simpler engineering, while others revive names that disappeared from American roads decades ago. Here are five new trucks that may be worth waiting for.
1. REO Runabout
The revived REO name is being applied to a small body-on-frame pickup aimed directly at buyers who miss simple trucks. The REO Runabout T4X is expected to use a naturally aspirated gasoline four-cylinder engine, offer a six-speed manual transmission and mechanical four-wheel drive, and start around $21,500. REO is also promising physical controls, removable body panels, straightforward diagnostics and long-term parts support. A crew-cab T4C and S4C SUV are planned from the same basic platform, while Frank Stephenson’s design studio is developing the production models. The biggest question is whether the startup can actually deliver what it is promising, with customer vehicles still targeted several years away.
2. Slate Truck
Slate’s tiny electric pickup takes an equally minimalist approach but arrives there through completely different technology. The two-seat truck is designed as a relatively blank platform that owners can customize later, including conversions into five-seat SUV configurations. Instead of filling the dashboard with expensive screens and equipment, Slate is emphasizing simplicity, modular accessories and a starting price around $25,000 before destination. The company is targeting roughly 200 miles of range and plans to offer hundreds of accessories, allowing buyers to add capability instead of paying for a loaded trim level from the start. If production stays on schedule, Slate should be among the first of these trucks to reach customers.
3. Scout Terra
Scout Motors is reviving one of America’s most recognizable off-road names with the Terra, a body-on-frame pickup that takes a far more serious approach to capability. The truck is expected to offer mechanical locking differentials, a solid rear axle, available 35-inch tires, more than a foot of ground clearance and towing capacity above 10,000 pounds. Buyers will be able to choose between a fully electric version targeting roughly 350 miles of range and a Harvester model that uses a gasoline engine as a generator to extend total driving range beyond 500 miles. Production of the new Scout truck and the SUV version is planned for Scout’s new South Carolina factory, with pricing expected to begin below $60,000.
4. Ford Fathom
Ford’s upcoming small electric pickup may be most interesting because of how the company intends to build it. The new Ford Fathom truck is expected to become the first vehicle based on Ford’s new Universal EV Platform and a radically simplified production system designed to reduce manufacturing costs. Ford has targeted a starting price around $28,000, which would put it unusually close to inexpensive gasoline pickups while still providing a four-door cab, five seats, a usable bed and a front trunk. The truck is also expected to offer bidirectional power and modern driver-assistance technology. If Ford can actually deliver a useful EV pickup at that price while making money on it, the manufacturing strategy behind the Fathom could prove as important as the vehicle itself.
5. Ram Dakota
The return of the truck formerly known as the Dodge Dakota would give Ram something it has lacked for years: a true midsize pickup. The original Dakota occupied the space between compact and full-size trucks and eventually became one of the most familiar names in the segment before disappearing after 2011. Ram has confirmed plans to return to the midsize market, although final specifications, engines and pricing remain largely unknown. Production is expected later in the decade, and the revived Dakota will have to compete directly with trucks including the Ford Ranger, Chevrolet Colorado, GMC Canyon and Toyota Tacoma. If Ram gets the size and price right, the Dakota name alone should give it a strong starting point.
The Small Truck Market Is Getting Interesting Again
These trucks approach the market from very different directions, but all five suggest buyers may soon have more alternatives to increasingly expensive full-size pickups. REO and Slate are chasing simplicity, Scout is combining old-school off-road hardware with new powertrains, Ford is trying to reinvent how affordable EVs are manufactured, and Ram is reviving a familiar midsize name. Not all of them are guaranteed to succeed, but for anyone considering a new truck over the next few years, waiting may actually be worthwhile.
