Toyota SA Motors has confirmed that a Corolla Quest-based bakkie – recently spotted in KZN in prototype guise – was once “under study” but that it ultimately didn’t crack the nod…

Toyota South Africa Motors has confirmed to Cars.co.za that it once developed a prototype Corolla Quest bakkie, though for whatever reason the locally conceived model didn’t ever receive the green light for production.

ALSO READ: Why Toyota never marketed a Corolla Quest bakkie

We recently came across a dashcam video showing what appeared to be a Quest-based single-cab bakkie being transported on the back of a flatbed truck (the latter featuring “Toyota SA Motors” branding). Ostensibly captured just outside the Japanese firm’s Prospecton factory in KwaZulu-Natal as recently as 4 September 2023, the clip was uploaded to YouTube by Ryan Hawker Motor.

So, we asked Toyota SA Motors to comment on whether such a vehicle was indeed in development or, if that wasn’t the case, to provide some background on the reason for this intriguing unit’s existence.

“The vehicle you see in that (video) is a prototype – and the model was under study at the time,” the company’s local division told Cars.co.za, before adding that the unibody bakkie “was modelled on the previous-generation Corolla Quest” and is “therefore not in development”.

We’ve imagined a Toyota Corolla Quest bakkie before…

As a reminder, the original Quest was based on the 10th-generation Corolla Sedan and built in South Africa from 2014 to 2020, though there’s a chance the prototype predates the Quest (and is instead based on the aforementioned E140-gen Corolla). From what we can tell from the video, the bakkie prototype is unchanged from its nose to its B-pillar, after which it gains bespoke bodywork, obviously in the form of a load bay and a tailgate. It would surely also have gained a revised rear suspension set-up.

It’s unlikely that the video dates back to the days of the original Quest (or earlier) since we see a Corolla Cross – which launched locally only at the end of 2021 – in the footage. While it’s not clear why the prototype was out and about years after being shelved, its sighting certainly made us sit up and take notice, particularly since production of the Nissan NP200 is scheduled to wrap up in March 2024.

Production of the Nissan NP200 (SA’s last half-tonne bakkie standing) is set to end in March 2024.

Unless something changes soon, the NP200’s departure will see the local half-tonne bakkie segment – which has lost the likes of the Ford Bantam, Fiat Strada and Chevrolet Utility over the past 12 years or so – without a single entrant. Volkswagen, however, says is it “looking into” the prospect of building a unibody bakkie at its Kariega plant, while the Duster-based Renault Oroch has long been in the planning for a South African introduction.

In addition, a recent report out of the United States suggests Toyota is mulling a modern Corolla-based bakkie, though such a model is not expected to hit the market until at least 2027. Toyota SA Motors executives have furthermore hinted at an upcoming model that could slot in below the popular Hilux and likely be built at Prospecton. As we’vetouched on before, however, this may well end up being a prolonged-lifecycle version of the current Hilux (a “Hilux Quest”, if you will) rather than an all-new model (or indeed a unibody half-tonner).

Regardless of what’s possibly in the pipeline, we can’t help but wonder if any other fascinating prototypes are lurking in dark corners within the walls of the Prospecton plant…

Related content

Toyota Corolla-based bakkie ‘under discussion’ – report

New Toyota Rangga is a flexible workhorse bakkie

NP200 going, Almera gone: where to from here for Nissan?