Tacoma -vs Ranger 2019 sales figures...it aint pretty

The moment Toyota started going down hill is when they decided to try and outsell GM.

Quantity over quality.

 

They boxed themselves into a corner as if they make the Ranger good it will impact F-150 sales and if they leave it mediocre then it will keeps it position near the bottom in sales.

 

Can't argue with you there. Funny enough, my buddy owned an Escape before the Ranger. Granted his Escape was 5-6 years old, but the Ranger definitely felt similar, but much more evolved. I haven't been in a new Escape, so maybe they are the same. It wouldn't surprise me in the least. If Ford wants to lure me away, they're going to have to make it a truck, a mini F-150 as opposed to a Ridgeline wannabe.

 

Good question but i'd have to think most of the buying public either has no clue about this while others don't care to wait and just want something now.

Some of us (me included) are still buying 4runners in 2020 that aren't much different than one that come out in 2009 even though an all-new model is rumored to be a couple of years away. Despite being old as shit, 4runner has had its best sales #'s in recent years.

 

I don't disagree, but the only reason the F-150 has been the best selling truck for the last 20 of their 36 years of leading sales are due to ultra low-cost work trucks. I've lived in the south my entire life, and there are 3-4 Silverados/Sierras to every non-work F-150. But mostly every business or contractor has work F-150s.

 

I said it a year ago, when the bronco had been teased ad nauseum back then. The teasing is now over two years old, and its still all hat, no cattle. The Bronco is going to be a shitshow. And I say that as a fan of the Bronco. Same goes for new Ranger.

You know what else was teased and hyped for this long? The Phantom Menace.

 

I'm not sure that is the case. My job and degrees are related to manufacturing and production with a lot of emphasis on logistics support and quality control. Toyota gets brought up a lot, as they basically invented Kanban. Their shift has more to do with Kanban, Six Sigma, lean manufacturing, and just-in-time manufacturing/inventory management. From a lean processing standpoint, over-engineering (exceptional quality) can be viewed as a waste. I know this sounds backwards, but if the cost of defects over time is less than the cost of over-engineering/over-qualifying products, the better route is to let the defects occur as long as they fall within statistical limits. Nearly this exact phrase is said in Fight Club, when Edward Norton's character is describing his company's recall justification. Sad but true.

 

What makes you think it'll be a shitshow?

Ford can make some exciting performance vehicles (Focus RS, Ford GT, Mustang lineup, Raptor F150) so I think they're capable of giving us a Bronco that looks and performs good. It's their bread/butter vehicles that are boring and lackluster.

The upcoming Bronco gives me some hope given its more boxy/truckish proportion and I liked the lines on the racer they showed a couple of weeks ago. All Ford has to do is follow the Gladiator/Wrangler formula with the Ranger/Bronco in terms of looks, offer a serious off-road package, and make the 2.7/3.0 Ecoboost available as an option and i think they'll have a compelling offering.

 

I'm thinking Ford has an electric Ranger in the works or the very least a hybrid.

 

These guys generally love crapping on the Tacoma. I believe half of their entire series is dedicated to that effect. Also, I thought crawl control was designed as a tool of last resort or extreme circumstances, which his situation was neither. He should have approached that obstacle in exactly the way he overcame it without the crawl control engaged, possible even without the locker engaged.

Love your profile pic, btw. Do you own that magnificent machine?

 

Pure speculation, but its in design hell. When it was first announced, there should have been enough time for it to hit production by 2020 model year. There should be factory tooling going on right now for it to hit the 2021 mark. Prototypes should have been submitted to the NHTSA for testing. Usually you see actual photos of the thing about a year before it hits showroom floors, so if its going to make its 2021 deadline you would be seeing actual photos of it...nowish. So either its experiencing "death by committee," or there is a serious unsolved problem going on. No matter the cause, some poor team somewhere is feeling the pressure of "meet deadline or else." Everyone knows that when that happens, quality suffers. So, yeah, shitshow incoming, is my official opinion.

 

I do! Thank you! I've had it for about 3 years now. It is pretty sweet. The kids love it when I put one them in the passenger seat and other drivers think they are driving.

 

It's not backwards. It's exactly the thing I'm talking about.

Rather than focusing on making every single vehicle be as good as it can be, they purposefully let a certain amount of "shit" pass the line as long as it falls within some statistic. All this just so they can sell MORE cars.

Again, quantity over quality.

It's just like the companies who illegally dump chemicals or whatever knowing that it's cheaper to settle the lawsuits or pay the fines rather than properly dispose of the chemicals.

 

Doubt they'd release a hybrid. My guess would be a turbo-4 or, yeah, fully electric.

 

Yeah, it's kind of a double-edged sword. It's not as much about selling the most cars possible or letting things happen solely because the lawsuit, fine, etc. is cheaper, rather it's about keeping costs low, which eventually makes it to the consumer. A lot of folks on here complain about "spending/wasting 40k on a brand new truck that...." But others have posted hard numbers that show that Tacomas actually cost less today than they did 15-20 years ago when accounting for inflation, options, technology, government regulation, etc. I've done my fair share of complaining and had 6 TSBs/recalls performed on my truck, but Toyota is still a reputable and honorable company, and I will continue to buy until they prove otherwise. That 80s and 90s American idea of Japanese quality and company-over-self (think Gung Ho with Michael Keaton) hasn't been lost, Toyota has just decided to slightly change their strategy in order to remain competitive on their path to world automotive domination.

 

That's almost true about the prices adjusted for inflation. A 2004 doublecab 4x4 MSRP would be roughly $30k in today's money. Which is *about* the same cost as today, a little more if anything for a comparable modern truck.

For example, in 2005 I bought a nearly new TRD 4x4 doublecab for $22k (~$29k today). This was the highest and most expensive model there was, except for maybe the Limited. If you want a top of the line Tacoma now, you're going to need to shell out $50k for a TRD Pro. I think what a lot of people are "complaining" about is what you end up getting for that extra $20k for a Pro. I would argue you aren't getting $20k worth of upgrades.

 

The same can be said for the Tacoma. It's largely a carryover from the 2nd gen with a new corporate engine added in and updated interior. It isn't the best at anything (leaving out long term reliability since its assumed not confirmed at this point) in its category. It's using perceived reliability and resale value to sell. That formula seems to be working well (got me to buy one) but in normal Toyota fashion in everything else its very average.

 

I looked at the new Ranger but didn't even test drive. EVERY SINGLE one of the dozen trucks on the lot had a $5k dealer markup. The sales guy came out and I said I'm not interested in working with a dealer that charges markups and his face fell flat. If Ford expects to sell those babyfaced oversized trucks they need to control their dealers.

 

Absolutely agree with you there.

 

Damn. Good. Vanilla. Never disappoints.