The Japanese automaker might return to the segment the Tacoma once dominated.
In the United States, the Ford Maverick and Hyundai Santa Cruz have given the tiny pickup truck category a boost. With the advent of these two vehicles last year, the segment, which had been abandoned in the previous decade due to expanding truck sizes, was brought back to life, reigniting Americans’ desire for smaller trucks.
Indeed, these two have been flying off the shelves, with the Santa Cruz being one of the quickest sellers off the lot last year. Meanwhile, because to high demand, Ford halted processing orders for the Maverick earlier this year. Year-to-date, the Maverick and Santa Cruz have sold 50,000 units combined.
However, there is one automaker that is considering re-entering the lucrative compact pickup truck sector in the United States – Toyota.
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Under the now-midsize Tacoma, Toyota Motor North America Senior Vice President of Automotive Operations Jack Hollis told Automotive News that “there is space” in the Toyota lineup. “How do you fill it?” says the narrator.
According to Automotive News, Hollis noted that Toyota “continuing to look” at the tiny truck category “and we’ve continued to look for a long time.”
The first-generation Toyota Tacoma (seen above) was categorised as a small pickup truck. When Toyota debuted the second-generation model in 2004, it moved up to the midsize class.
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“Those products have an unquestionable place in the market. And how big will that segment grow? I’m not sure, but it’s something we should think about and see whether it’s something we should pursue “Cooper Ericksen, Toyota Motor North America’s group vice president of product planning and strategy, agreed.
However, there are certain things to consider. Toyota is balancing emissions regulations with vehicle size — the former is inversely proportional to vehicle footprint in the United States. Despite this, considering the segment’s profitability, we wouldn’t be surprised if the manufacturer decided to go ahead and make the move sooner rather than later.