Where Tacoma Design Ideas Come From

Not what I've seen as a 26 year engineer, but go ahead and give me a lesson.

 

Well, according to many the 2nd gen was the best...they claim toyota learned nothing from it when they built the 3rd gen. What makes one so positive the 4th gen won't have hiccups to?

 

Depends on engineering department size and type of engineering. I laid it out from an OEM mass production product line that changes constantly. Not the civil engineer who is sizing a beam.

 

So envious 1st genners were responsible for the second gen’s failures. 2nd genners for the 3rd genners failures and so forth. Makes sense why the taco just keeps getting worser and worser. But come on guys! why would you let them get rear disk brakes!?!

 

Accountants don’t ever hear the “most of the time” part…

 

Im also a 25+ year engineer, and your high level process map is pretty much dead on.

 

Thanks.
For some reason, people think that engineers dream up things, design and build it how they want and then sell it.
Everyone, no! That is not how it works! Engineers get told what to do by the people buying the products!
And, in a big shop, engineers collaborate, not work alone.
You would not want to see a vehicle that only used engineers for every task.

 

I think this paragraph is bullshit but we all have our opinions. I don't care about your's and you don't care about mine. Have a nice day and see you on FRIDAY!

 

Except it's not an opinion. It's fact. Somebody told Toyota how to build this truck. If it wasn't you it was somebody similar to you.

 

Sounds good, it's your thread.

 

I'll play. That statement downplays a couple of minor points.

1) A vehicle has to be designed to meet all regulations, including safety, DMV, and environmental, for all jurisdictions that the vehicle will be marketed in. There is probably a department dedicated to keeping up with that and producing a spec sheet.

2) There will be a department that researches patents and trademarks, to make sure that their vehicle design does not violate either. In most companies the same department is responsible for filing a shitload of patent and trademark applications of their own.

3) There will be a design department, full of sub-departments that specialize in things like ergonomics, user interface, and finally, how the thing will look. The design department is what would most likely be in two-way collaboration with market research.

4) Then there will be a bean-counter department which will be in three-way collaboration between design and market research - it is their job to say "make this design happen using our existing parts catalog and for x dollars per unit." ^^^ Its this step right here when most people say "damn engineers." Its really "damn management"

Your engineering steps are happening in collaboration with these four above. Market surveys and research really plays a tiny part of it - a novel car design will be influenced by purchasing trends that have gone through a heavily tweaked forecasting process to predict what people will buy 10-20 years into the future. Similarly, engineering specs will be dictated by what regulations are forecasted to be in place 10-20 years into the future. All of this has to come to a central point of management for final approval of a build sheet.

When people say "damn engineers," they mean "damn the guy that organized that build collaboration."

 

I also don't think we (people on TW) are the target demographic. My guess is the typical Tacoma owner buys his/her truck, puts a few accessories on it, and drives it stock. It would make sense that people who are more performance oriented, like TW members, are not happy. I also think we sometimes forget that at the end of the day, it's a truck.

 

And also consider how back in the late 80s Japanese manufacturers were committed to building small fuel efficient vehicles even when most american consumers wanted a huge tank with a pushrod V8. The American manufacturers were laughing at the little Corolla and Civic saying "you guys don't understand the market". Toyota and Honda ignored the focus groups and played the long game, understanding that small and efficient would give them market advantage later on down the road.

 

I think you mean the seventies. The late eighties were Americans getting four and six cylinders with FWD platforms and compact trucks (remember those?) but I get what you're saying.

 

As an engineer, I can say with 100% certainty, my life is always much harder when accountants are involved. Most are not technically savvy enough to realize that spending $0.50 on a part will save $6.00 in assembly and warranty costs downstream, when vendors and procurement types are in their ears wanting to save $0.05 on a part with lesser quality requirements. A vast amount of engineering time is spent trying to get non-technical weenies to understand highly technical issues.

That all being said, several of my closest friends are bean-counting money grubbers. We have excellent conversations while indulging in adult beverages! Lol!

 

So, you guys are going on record that the vast majority, if not everyone, involved in said focus groups agreed this was absoutely necessary and the best possibly design (on the '24) -

 

One of the biggest problems companies face, is incorrect market analysis. When sales and marketing teams get too detached from the consumers of their products, they have no way of knowing what’s real and what isn’t (i.e. their bullshit meter doesn’t work). Personally, I think Toyota does an excellent job when compared to not only their direct competitors, but other industries overall. Mass market products will never make everyone 100% happy 100% of the time. However, when they make most people happy, have an outstanding quality track record, and generally get the job done, they will alway win.

 

That looks totally pre-production to me. The more I look at it, I see similarities to the gen3’s and I kind of like the “basket/molle” pockets. To each their own I guess.

 

No, that is not what anyone is saying. That is the result of Toyota trying to interpret the vague and generic responses they get from illiterate idiots to inquiries about what consumers want. When the are told their interiors are dated, look old, and don't look futuristic, this is what they respond with.