How Toyota’s Tacoma became king of the U.S. midsize truck market

CNBC ^ | 05/18/2024 | Robert Ferris

[SeekAndFind]

The American pickup truck market is dominated by domestic brands, primarily Ford , Chevrolet , GMC and Ram . U.S. brands benefit from a loyal buyer base, and a 25% tax on imported trucks.

But the Toyota Tacoma shows how a foreign automaker can find and control a niche within that market.

The top-selling full-size pickup line is Ford’s F-Series, especially the F-150, which is also the bestselling vehicle in America, according to Edmunds. GM and Ram pickups trail Ford, which also has the top-selling compact pickup truck — the Maverick.

But U.S. automakers have wavered in their commitment to smaller pickups, while the Japanese automaker Toyota has had a presence in the segment as far back as the 1970s. Toyota introduced the Tacoma in 1995 as a successor to the Toyota Pickup, famously known as the Hilux elsewhere in the world. Meanwhile, Ford Motor discontinued the Ranger after the 2011 model year, and then revived it in 2019. GM pulled the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon off the market in 2012, before reviving both in 2014.

In 2023, Toyota sold over 237,000 Tacomas in the U.S., far outpacing all of its midsize competitors by a wide margin. The next best seller was the Chevrolet Colorado, which sold just shy of 72,000 units. The GMC Canyon, a slightly higher-end version of the same truck, adds roughly another 22,600 in sales for the U.S. automaker.

Toyota’s careful attention to the needs of Tacoma owners is seen as part of the reason for that loyal market base and the model’s consistent sales. For example, about 40% of Tacoma owners take their trucks off-road at least once a month, so Toyota offers several off-road packages for the truck.

[Seruzawa]

Yep. Same here. That’s how I know about the Mustang. Had to floor the thing constantly with the high 3.08 rear end. I got 16 mpg city. A friend with a 6 got 20mpg.

[Texas resident]

A friend of mine in Virginia has 2 Tacomas. The older one has 490K miles on it. That is his farm truck. His other one is his commuter vehicle. Bought both used and has no problems with them.

[beef]

I have an ‘09 Tacoma. Being from Michigan, I resisted Japanese cars for decades, but now I see what people were raving about. It just goes and goes. It will probably last me until I have to stop driving, for whatever reason.