Leaked Tundra pics may show future for Tacoma

I like it. I will buy one and let you guys know how it works out. Always willing to take one for the team...

 

My F150 works and gets 16-17 MPG on the highway. That's loaded down with tools.

My Tacoma when I had it, well it, was just for posing and barely got 14 MPG.

What's wrong with this picture, the talking out my ass part thinks that Toyota is still 15 years behind in the half ton truck segment

 

Every model does not have to be a leader they just have to make money. I am interested in what parts will be common to the Tacoma in a few years. I think it's a home run...

 

Thanks

 

I wouldn't be surprised if the gas guzzler tax comes back with a catch on pickups registered for non business use, maybe these people paying top dollar now are on to something. The new Tundra could be what 55k to 70k

 

Looks like a Chevy

 

I'd drive it.

 

Well, these from 2020 weren't renderings. They were exactly it. This shoudn't really be a surprise to anyone, as it has been a known entity on the exterior for months and the renderings were as I called it, lazy BS efforts.


REAL from 2020



BS Renderings from 2020

It is obviously not a concept, this is it. I would think people following news from time to time, would notice the difference between a pre-production model representative of the production vehicle versus a tarted up concept for the auto show rounds.

Now this kind of faulty logic is what I hate more than anything. We are all entitled to our opinions, but try not to lace it with opinionated factoids? Have some objectivity here. Toyota already had these testing over 2 years ago, in early 2019. Just because these mules were out and had the old cab, doesn't mean the design wasn't fully dialed in. The Job 1 date for these was originally August 3, 2020:



All the core design work in terms of styling hardpoints were locked in some 3 years ago and already testing by the end of 2018 on their proving grounds, HIDDEN from view. How does copying GMC work in your theory? Sometimes it's better not to make accusations off the cuff, if you can't prove them. No matter how comical it might sound to (some of) you. None of us go around copying each other, save for how many other half ton manufacturers just seem to borrow styling cues from the Raptor anyhow. Outside of that, everyone except Nissan is pretty original (see Titan, new Frontier).

I am sure the engineers and designers worked very hard on this starting 5-6 years back at Toyota in Texas, California, Ann Arbor MI, and Japan, to be randomly accused of copying a design which debuted AFTER they finished their own design work. You should note, automobiles are not finished at the last minute on this front.

I have said this for many years, but it just falls on deaf ears depending on the person I guess. On time redesign programs commit to the production design in all aspects 2 years before Job 1, for bigger vehicles add 6 months, for more complex efforts add another 6-12 months on top of that = 3.5 years at longest. For this truck, I am sure it will be a 4 year gap.

I've seen you mention TGNA-F quite a lot and respectfully look past it, but it's really TNGA-F meaning Toyota New Global Architecture - Frame. Just like for Lexus they use (TN)GA-L (Toyota New) Global Architecture - Luxury. I guess it's an honest typo, but seems to be often.

And who is that exactly ?

Um, whatever then. Anecdotal perspectives can vary immensely and it's easy to beat on Ford, yet so many love to copy...

Yeah, but it has been obvious enough for quite awhile. Anyone claiming those shots in red were just renderings or "FAKE" after seeing previous leaks, is terribly naive or being willfully obtuse. Toyota can easily drag their feet however long they want, but if there is a way to get around that earlier, it is up to the end user what they choose to trust or wait instead until solidly official.

That's a really weird question to ask, as it is the final design, no question about it and there are other leaks which confirmed that months ago. Especially considering that it takes years to develop a new vehicle and how a final design of a new model is always going to be set, well before you ever see anything of it in your orbit.

This new design was all defined over 3 years ago from what I remember, studying the development effort the past 5 years. Fully locked in by January 2019, for anyone to be accurately describing back in the spring of 2019 what it even looked like. A big Tacoma, with 4Runner influences. One could already even see it in these spy shots of a mule wearing the front and rear sheetmetal "skins", with a current gen cab in the middle.

January 2019 780B Tundra Program Mechanical Test Mule Winter Testing:



Honestly I really would expect the average person who logs into a forum, to at least understand the difference between a design study concept or veiled teaser show "prototype" against a pre-production vehicle not yet past Job 1, that is 99.9% the final design 99.9% of the time. The general public not so much, because they don't log in.

Toyota at this point have had years behind this, for anyone to be questioning whether or not it's the real deal. It is rather obvious at this point.

This 100%. Questions like that are just...(sighs). Between silly copycat accusations, which are unfair in terms of benchmarking timelines or thinking automakers have limitless design changes on the fly and are not bound by strict lead times, the internet can be very disappointing. I get people have very busy lives, but wow, just try to see and understand a little how it works.

I have done my best to make it very clear, design work, particularly sheetmetal/hardpoints, is designed years in advance and finalized no less than 2 years before you even see it. It's a done deal, not to mention being delayed by 14 months and getting designed quite a long time ago to be hearing comparisons to things GMC as well, that lean accusatory and not so much drawing coincidental similarities. Perhaps GM copied Toyota's own truck designs?

Yep. I don't even why people have any reason to be skeptical of the obvious right in front of them at this point. It is very easy to tell what is legitimate or final for production. There are always telltale signs. Look past the BS renderings, focus on media that is likely to be legitimate, instead of playing the "genius skeptic" and always dismissing everything (yet trusting the wrong people).

Why would anyone want that thing designed in 1989 and an unfortunate flop when it later came out in the 90s? Maybe 100 people would buy it at best. Half tons have just become lifted land yacht sedans of yore with more aggressive styling and not so much a rugged tool in single cab form. Read the room on what actually sells LOL.

LOL, what? Please consult your optometrist , as that looks nothing like the P702 F-150, a product I am very familiar with in each and every trim, plus upcoming 2024 MCA design work.

P702 F-150 1:1 Clay Final Design Review - November 17, 2017 Dearborn, MI (For MY 2021 F-150)


Our 2021 F-150 began production on October 12, 2020, nearly 36 months after we reached that point in the photos on November 17, 2017. Toyota took even longer in their case.


Toyota designed this new truck's new body in parallel until 2017-2018 for an October 2020 release and then fell behind an additional year due to hiccups.

Only the smallest of details changed between 2018 and now, that only vary by trim level. They didn't copy anyone, that had a new truck design introduced after the 2018 model year. You guys need to remember lead times exist in our industry and to know the timeline of a given product's general development, before making that critique. It's not like the cell phone market at all and much slower paced.

Opinions are opinions on seeing styling similarities, but in actuality you really cannot copy things that do not exist to your knowledge when designing a new vehicle. In Toyota's defense, I had to make that observation, since our new P702 F-150 for 2021 was also accused of copying the 2019 GMC Sierra, which is false considering when we designed it and internally reached final design sign-off on November 17, 2017. GM revealed it well after that. I hate the 2019+ Sierra design anyway, compared to its predecessor that was more chiseled.

It might look like that to you in terms of your honest opinion, but like many others here, do you even know when this truck was actually designed for that matter? It wasn't yesterday nor last year nor even the YEAR before. The new Tundra was designed as a 2021 model and subtract 4 years from that (=2017), is when Toyota began settling on final designs for this program. The previous gen GM trucks could only be a reference, which were sold between April 2013 and 2018.

This was already testing with this new design back in early 2019 and already described by a few back then who had seen it uncovered at that time, so please remember that fact before implying they were influenced by the Sierra. No harm no foul if it's just noticing similarities vs actually accusing Toyota of copying them.

I've seen similar accusations against the 2022 Land Cruiser in terms of 2021 Escalade copycat accusations and they are shortsighted, because the 2022 Land Cruiser 300 design was as we call, frozen in mid-2018 and was redone at the very last hour from an earlier proposal set in 2016-2017. Delayed its own redesign for that reason by 1-2 years.

As a product planner that happens to be an enthusiast too, I am very anal about "looks like this..." comparisons or copycat accusations, because they cannot be fully substantiated without deep knowledge of product planning work on the given vehicle and are often not even grounded in reality.

With the first Tundra (nee T-150 finalized 1996), Toyota blatantly copied the 1997 F-150 (implied), yet also had quietly accused Ford (of yore) of copying the aerodynamic aesthetic of the '89 Pickup (launched Oct 1988) and '93 T-100 (launched Nov 1992) itself ironically with the 1997 F-150 Styleside design (finalized Nov 1992) and simply got even. The '07 Tundra was at least original, while this is more so derivative of other Toyotas and of course, Ford Raptor (without a doubt). I am very Blue Oval, but in owning a Tacoma, fair is fair.

I can believe that indeed, because they looked at what their enthusiast set were doing years ago to their trucks and took the lead off of that. I however, hate the lack of originality in terms of everyone just copying the SVT Raptor design (to creatively meet DOT regulations), ever since it debuted end of '08 and hit lots in summer of '09.

There is always a unique approach to be taken, that doesn't steal from a segment leader, who so many are willing to pile on and yet jack their own ideas anyway. I do like Toyota's approach taken on the red LEDs on the tailgate, as I haven't anyone else do that yet as of MY 2022.

Absolutely NOT! I have forever hated, the uninventive and derivative BS by the aftermarket and etc, which copied a clever solution designed by us in 2007 for the 2010 model year SVT Raptor, to meet DOT requirements for marker lights in regards to the extra width and Raptor-style mesh grilles with the lights within them.

P415 2010MY Ford F-150 SVT Raptor Design Freeze 1:1 Clay Styling Mockup - 2007



I can swallow it on the new Tundra TRD Pro and maybe the Rebel TRX emulating this setup, but seeing them on other Tacomas, 4Runners, GMs, and Nissans pisses me off like no other, yet are very quick to criticize Ford for gawd knows how many things. Honestly, be more original and use design modification ideas not unique to another production vehicle.

Satoshi grilles on here were quite nice, so even borrowing details from the halo TRD Pro models for your average SR5 annoys the hell out of me, when other more unique aftermarket solutions exists. Reminds me of 320i I4 BMWs pretending to be M3s or fake Raptors being your run of the mill XLT with copied OEM parts. I have seen great builds of base to mid-spec trucks that do not borrow unique OEM components from halo TRD Pro models nor the competition's own original ideas.

 

Probably going to have 25-30mpg with the iforce max. It’s tempting.

 

Basically identical to the renderings. Amazing how good these car artists are. Tundra has work to do in the FS space relative to the Big 3. Not sure this will move the needle that much for most buyers.

 

Sure hope the design grows on me

 

I'm so glad I have 2017. That thing looks like doo doo

 

Honestly I've spent alot of time here defending you and giving you credit but when you take the time to point out a simple typo I made and act all holier than thou I will no longer. And we may not have the insight you have but from our perspectives its definitely similar and appears to be a copy cat of some design cues from other brands which also were tooling their current designs one would assume before Toyota was doing theirs. Sometimes your posts though insightful are straight up condescending.

 

This flew by me. Though I'm sure its clever. lol.

 

TLDR

 

It was just missing one thing.

 

It may depending on the interior, capacities, power train, etc. etc.. Just based on the exterior design I'm still on the fence but that isn't everything to me anyway.

 

My brother, this is the headspace you occupy:


This is the headspace we want you to be in:


Together, we got this.

The TW crew