Toyota and Subaru bringing a compact truck?

[Old Young Man]

Toyota confirmed they planned to bring a small pickup, it's just a matter of what and when. For Subaru, anything other than a Baja would be a travesty.

I will dump Ford in a second for a Toyota or Subaru truck.

Why not a Brat?

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[North Coast Joe]

Both Toyota and Subaru would most likely build their Mav competitors in the USA. Both have histories of success here.

 

[HenryFord]

What would be more interesting to me is if Ford would build a PHEV version of the Maverick. I live in the country and the nearest Toyota or Subaru dealers are over 45 miles away. My Ford dealer is only 10 and he is great.

Dealer support is a big deal in my list of priorities. This is a good point.

 

[WJOHNM]

Rumours have been published for 4 years now and we're still not seeing it. What makes you think that Toyota would suddenly give you the straight goods now?

I think now they're seeing over 100k on Mavericks sale's everyone will make a small pickup, people realize they don't need a 50/100$ pickup to go to home Depot a few times a month or year and can get a loaded pickup for 30/40$.

 

[TheRealEman]

Every year, there are reports that Ram, Toyota, etc. will bring out a new smaller truck line. Even Mitsubishi. If you travel internationally, you see why: They all sell small trucks overseas. But it rarely materializes here. I agree with other posters that I’d only consider one in
Non/plug in hybrid mode. Which is why I own a Maverick.

 

[Scott Asheville]

My main question (and I'm a big fan of more small trucks) is "how big is the small truck market". Maverick is selling a bit under 150,000 a year. Ford is already incentivizing them in my area - I turned down an XLT discounted by $3,000 literally two days ago (mine is fine - not worth the money to me to upgrade). If Ford is incentivizing the Maverick already, it makes me wonder about demand. The Santa Cruz I think sells around 30,000 a year? So we have a 180,000 existing market for small trucks with two entries.

If (I hope it happens) a few competitors jump into this market, do the pie slices get smaller or does the pie grow? That's the question the OEM product planners are asking. Both VW and Toyota showed small truck prototypes years ago. Their product planners both said "Nah, can't make money".

I personally see some obvious white spaces in the small truck market...

• Smaller and/or cheaper than Maverick.
• BEV or PHEV
• Two doors
• Anything with a Toyota nameplate - because Toyota has a rabid small truck fan base

Slate, yes the one all the Maverick fanboys so hate, is gonna hit three empty segments at once. Two doors. BEV. Smaller than Maverick. The questions with Slate are... Do they deliver product? What does it cost once you get the bigger battery, some options? I'm guessing somewhere south of $35,000, but we'll see when we see.

 

[2lbgill]

Toyota will never bring out any truck that would disturb their Tacoma sales. Someones dreaming.

 

[boxster03]

they already have them just not for the US market

 

[HenryFord]

Ford has used price discovery over the last 3 years to see where demand softens. They are there now. I think they have pushed the price as high as they can and still keep trucks moving. Any manufacturer interested in this space has to ask if they can make money at that level and do they want to compete. The delay in the competition says a lot of things. Toyota uses a very different model for manufacturing and they forecast out the entire lifecycle cost over the expected duration they plan to produce and break up those costs up front in production and pricing. If they are not in the NA market then there is a reason. For a long time no one wanted the small trucks... Well "no one" meaning enough people to make it profitable. At this current price point it may mean that the competition has decided it is profitable. More competition hopefully will mean better vehicles and possibly help control prices. Ford is dancing a fine line now at the current price point.

 

[Cherokee]

Toyota also desperately needs to update their engines. Needed to for a long time.

 

[Escapologist]

Don't say that too loud, it might get Subaru's gasket eater

 

[TwoTone]

Don't say that too loud, it might get Subaru's gasket eater

Wiping the cob webs off that one. Hasn't been an issue for a long time.

 

[Scott Asheville]

I'm not buying the "Toyota won't disrupt the Tacoma" argument. You disrupt yourself or somebody else does it for you. Toyota, the largest and most consistently profitable automaker on the frigging planet, surely understands that modern business aphorism.

Now they might not build a small truck because they don't see it as a profitable segment, or large enough to merit the effort. That's different.

 

[Escapologist]

True they've got Corolla Cross, Rav4, Venza and Crown Royal pretty much competing for the same customers. That's not to mention the Lexus side versions of the same.

 

[Bob zimmerman]

About that Toyota Stout.
estimated 20MPG hwy 28 MPG city.

Those numbers will not compete with a Maverick.
Bob

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