No Toyota Compact trucks in the future.

[kevinmccune]

80's vehicle pricing will always stay in the 80's. You'd have to really stupid to think $5,000-$6,000 new trucks are coming back.

80's vehicle pricing will always stay in the 80's. You'd have to really stupid to think $5,000-$6,000 new trucks are coming back.

yep back in the early nineties I bought a buckboard D21 Nissan (finally had power steering standard) for $7900(KA24E) engine and that was simply all I could afford despite working 10 hour days and being out 13 hrs a day( my employers didn't believe in overpaying their help-they were more interested in accumulating land,hunting trips and all the toys they wanted-a tip for young people entering the job market do not go to work for a hierarchy. Boss commented on me buying cheap truck,Cousin told him "that's all he can afford"

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[icegradner]

Does Toyota have a lot of female designers??

Not sure what you mean by that, but I doubt it. Japan is still far more male dominant than the west.

 

[zen_]

Agreed. Toyota has been doing some strange, for them, stuff since the current CEO took over the company. They have gone from a company that made, in the words of popular reviewers "boring" vehicles that generally worked well and suited the average consumer, to a company that is focusing on the higher end stuff, trail editions and such. Not that they are doing anything different than Ford, or other manufactures in terms of a lineup of value to higher end.

The value oriented vehicles left in the Toyota lineup are the Corolla and Corolla Cross, just like the Maverick is the value oriented model for Ford. The difference is, Ford sees itself as a truck company, Toyota sees itself as a car company. That really comes down to Japanese culture vs American culture. It's why the Tacoma and Tundra are designed in Texas, while everything else comes from abroad.

I agree with all that. No reason at all for Toyota to even bother with a unibody pickup that would just cut into Tacoma sales.

Nissan on the other hand, I understand the brand reputation tanked badly with the Renault alliance and association with sub prime buyers in police pursuits, but the Frontier is a much nicer truck than the Tacoma for less money with a NA V6. They have a few vehicles that are actually quite nice and give you a lot of value, and I would expect them to gamble on some new models if their finances stabilize.

 

[icegradner]

I agree with all that. No reason at all for Toyota to even bother with a unibody pickup that would just cut into Tacoma sales.

Nissan on the other hand, I understand the brand reputation tanked badly with the Renault alliance and association with sub prime buyers in police pursuits, but the Frontier is a much nicer truck than the Tacoma for less money with a NA V6. They have a few vehicles that are actually quite nice and give you a lot of value, and I would expect them to gamble on some new models if their finances stabilize.

I see the Frontier as a hold over, rather than the future of what they will do with trucks. Nissan had just resigned the V6 in 2019, there was no way they were going to turn around and slap a turbo charged 4 cylinder in it when the redesign for MY22 came in 2021. Next gen will likely follow the rest of the mid-range trucks with a turbo 4 cylinder.

 

[LSchicago]

Makes perfect sense. The Tacoma has record sales numbers, despite all the naysayers preaching on the internet. Over priced is clearly in the eyes of the beholder.

Given the price variance between an XL Maverick and a Lobo we already know people will spend whatever they like to get what they want. The Tacoma outsold the Maverick more than 2:1 last year.

Taco did not outsell the Maverick by over 2 to 1 last year, or even 2 to 1.
Maverick sold 155k, and Tacoma sold 274k. A good margin, but definitely not over 2 to 1. F150 outsells Taco too, but that's as irrelevant as the Taco outselling the Maverick. Different class vehicles. The fact is, Toyota determined they can't compete in the compact class, so the Maverick will be unchallenged.

 

[icegradner]

Taco did not outsell the Maverick by over 2 to 1 last year, or even 2 to 1.
Maverick sold 155k, and Tacoma sold 274k. A good margin, but definitely not over 2 to 1. F150 outsells Taco too, but that's as irrelevant as the Taco outselling the Maverick. Different class vehicles. The fact is, Toyota determined they can't compete in the compact class, so the Maverick will be unchallenged.

What's more realistic is a look at added value to the company. Toyota cannot keep up with demand for existing popular models in that price range (Corolla Cross and RAV4), adding another possible high demand vehicle to the production line could be problematic and drive customers to other brands more than limited availability of those models already have. They would likely have to tool up additional factories, and hire more workers. That's not a decision to be taken lightly on a maybe successful product.

Ford could do it, since they obviously planned to shut down Focus, and later Escape production in favour of the Maverick and Bronco Sport. The Santa Cruz also proves there isn't enough demand in the segment for more than one manufacture. Any Toyota option would likely have been at the similar price point to the Santa Cruz, and the market showed there was no room for a mini unibody truck at that price point. I for one never believed Toyota planned to directly compete with the Maverick.

The Maverick didn't just get new truck buyers, but a lot of early owners here were also Focus, and other now discontinued Ford car owners. Ford did get new buyers from other brands, but also wanted to keep their own customers too.

 

[zen_]

I see the Frontier as a hold over, rather than the future of what they will do with trucks. Nissan had just resigned the V6 in 2019, there was no way they were going to turn around and slap a turbo charged 4 cylinder in it when the redesign for MY22 came in 2021. Next gen will likely follow the rest of the mid-range trucks with a turbo 4 cylinder.

I wouldn't be shocked if the add a 4 cylinder turbo, but keep the NA V6 as an option on the off-roady models.

As far as small unibody pickups that compete with the Maverick though, I'm surprised that at least Mitsubishi hasn't thrown a hail Mary out there instead of more mediocre crossovers. As far as I know, the Renault-Nissan-Mitsubishi alliance is still a thing, so Mitsubishi or Nissan could make one with off the shelf parts without a massive investment.

 

[Darryl]

Agreed. Toyota has been doing some strange, for them, stuff since the current CEO took over the company. They have gone from a company that made, in the words of popular reviewers "boring" vehicles that generally worked well and suited the average consumer, to a company that is focusing on the higher end stuff, trail editions and such. Not that they are doing anything different than Ford, or other manufactures in terms of a lineup of value to higher end.

The value oriented vehicles left in the Toyota lineup are the Corolla and Corolla Cross, just like the Maverick is the value oriented model for Ford. The difference is Ford sees itself as a truck company, while Toyota sees itself as a car company. That really comes down to Japanese culture vs American culture. It's why the Tacoma and Tundra are designed in Texas, while everything else comes from abroad.

I remember Toyota's first "large" truck was the T 100. It was obviously intended to attract the F series customer. But it was a swing and a miss. From what I understand, when they relaunched it as the tundra, they literally bought and F-150, took it apart, and copied it. And tried to better it in some areas such as a more powerful engine slightly more room, etc. you can see the trucks side by side and see that Toyota did a lot of copying. They knew that the F-150 was the standard. In my opinion they did the same with the Tacoma. Ford set the standard for compact trucks when they replaced The courier with the ranger. Toyota later copied Ford and continue to improve while the original Ranger stalled and was allowed to become stale. I think that's what allowed Toyota to grab the midsize truck market. Ford kept improving the F-150. So why Toyota tundra is a moderate success, it is still nowhere near the success of the F series. Perhaps they realize that the Ford is unlikely to repeat the mistake they made with the original Ranger. So they are hesitant to bring their small truck and commit to competing with Ford in that area

 

[WBS]

Not good news. What motivates manufacturers to improve their products is competition. Maverick has no competition in the compact, hybrid, light duty truck area. I believe we are already seeing this in the 2025 update that came out.

 

[Blue_Max]

Not good news. What motivates manufacturers to improve their products is competition. Maverick has no competition in the compact, hybrid, light duty truck area. I believe we are already seeing this in the 2025 update that came out.

The '25 was a mild refresh, which is standard industry practice.

 

[WBS]

The 25 digital refresh is a disaster IMO

 

[MaverickDragon]

The 25 digital refresh is a disaster IMO

It wasn't for me.
Apparently 155,050 other folks (at least) disagree with you.

The '25's sales were an 18.2% increase from the previous year, making it the best sales year for the Maverick since its launch.

 

[kevinmccune]

I remember Toyota's first "large" truck was the T 100. It was obviously intended to attract the F series customer. But it was a swing and a miss. From what I understand, when they relaunched it as the tundra, they literally bought and F-150, took it apart, and copied it. And tried to better it in some areas such as a more powerful engine slightly more room, etc. you can see the trucks side by side and see that Toyota did a lot of copying. They knew that the F-150 was the standard. In my opinion they did the same with the Tacoma. Ford set the standard for compact trucks when they replaced The courier with the ranger. Toyota later copied Ford and continue to improve while the original Ranger stalled and was allowed to become stale. I think that's what allowed Toyota to grab the midsize truck market. Ford kept improving the F-150. So why Toyota tundra is a moderate success, it is still nowhere near the success of the F series. Perhaps they realize that the Ford is unlikely to repeat the mistake they made with the original Ranger. So they are hesitant to bring their small truck and commit to competing with Ford in that area

look to mahindra,Tata,Kia or someone Toyota will not go there unless its an improved KEI truck.

 

[MaverickDragon]

Too many focus on what they think people need and not on what people want. I'd hate living in a place where other people decide what I need and don't need.

Welcome to the mass produced consumer society.

I vividly remember folks on the Smart Car forum, insisting that if you're only traveling back and forth to work you only need a two-seat car and that's what you should buy.... I
n their mind it wasn't something that was needed.

The Smart car is an oxymoron.
The problem with an incredibly downsized vehicle is that it shares the road with most vehicles being "just slightly" larger than it is.
In the sledge hammer vs. beer can contest, the beer can doesn't win.

What was missed in the want vs. need was the unforeseen...
See a great deal on a large item on the way home, perhaps at a garage sale.. Oops, too bad.
A couple of friends that need a ride from work. Nope.

The trade off in mpg just doesn't offset the perceived "what if" needs, or the Smart Car would still be in production, but it isn't. It's also reflected in their low resale values, retaining only about a third of their original value after three years.

It was an eco focused urban niche market vehicle to begin with, and most of those buyers are likely now driving EVs.

I did see that the car may be coming back as a micro EV made in China.

 

[Cancunbadlands]

The '25 was a mild refresh, which is standard industry practice.

2028? Redesign?

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