Toyota looking hard at compact pickup market

Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz have offered 50,000 models by May well this yr, in accordance to figures compiled by Automotive Information. Hyundai claims nearly 15,000 of individuals revenue. Even with the South Korean carmaker’s product sales currently being down 16% by way of the close of May compared to very same period of time in 2021, the Santa Cruz established a new revenue history in May well, and we know how well known the Maverick is. It can be doable that just about every automaker with a platform that could be converted into a compact truck is looking at the U.S. compact truck marketplace now. Thanks to Motor Pattern, we know Toyota is a single of those automakers. Through Toyota’s HQ Conference at its Texas base, a few execs admitted to preserving a keen eye on the phase and brainstorming possible techniques to enter.

Bob Carter, EVP for Toyota Motor North America, explained to MT, “Nowadays, we have the industry really properly included with Tacoma, but that [a compact pickup] could be a possibility and one thing we go on to appear at.” Cooper Ericksen, the group VP of product or service arranging and approach, made it very clear the essential is figuring out the customer. Toyota has a overall body-on-body platform it could use for a pickup that leans towards hardy use, and unibody platforms for a town-focused getaround with a mattress — which one would make additional sense? “[The] more that Ford sells, frankly, the extra that Hyundai sells,” he reported, “the a lot more we’ll be in a position to get good study on who these consumers are, why they want this car or truck, and we are going to see if which is the space that we want to enter into.”

Underlining the stage, Jack Hollis, the carmaker’s SVP of automotive operations in this article advised AN that there is no query of owning place in the lineup for a truck under the Tacoma. The proportions of the present-day Tacoma insert emphasis, AN pointing out that the contemporary mid-sizer is 9 inches taller and a least of 3 feet more time than a 2000 Tacoma. Hollis requested of that area, “The dilemma is, how to fill it?”

And Volkswagen should really take take note, for the reason that its modern EV pickup announcement is earning waves at a lot more than its U.S. vendor system, Ericksen expressing, “it will be appealing to see Scout.”

If you dwell in a specified section of the state, it’s as if Toyota’s compact background never ever died. Southern California is swimming in fourth-gen vehicles, frequently with the painted badging on their tailgates erased to leave just “YO.” Illustrations of the two succeeding generations constructed via the 1990s — prior to the Tacoma graduated to a mid-sizer in 2005 — nonetheless want great cash on the applied current market even with extra than 200,000 miles. 

Though Toyota is conversing in the conditional tenses that all automakers use ahead of announcing solution, it seems like the enterprise has an concept of what it wants to do. Carter instructed Motor Pattern, “Likelihood are we may well have HQ Confidential 3 [in June] following 12 months, so we are going to have other points to speak about.” The new Toyota Tacoma is anticipated future year, the new 4Runner the yr right after that. In 2025, it really is probable Toyota goes back again to actively playing smaller ball. 

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