"Four Wheeler" Pickup Truck of the Year: Not the Tacoma?

My city (in the US) uses mostly domestic brands for both cars and trucks, but the Fire Department has a handful of Tacomas and Tundras, and there are a few Priuses as well in the fleet. I've seen one of the Taco's on the beach doing lifeguard duty, and also a State Parks Ford Explorer (real SUV Explorer) but the Explorer was stuck in the sand. So not all agencies use US trucks. And of course the military use of Tacoma and Hilux is well known. But back to the original topic ... I was curious about this too. Both are fine trucks, though I chose the Taco with my dollars, but both magazines are published by the same outfit and as far as I know the tests were the same, so the Taco, as the top finishing pickup in FWOTY should also have been pickup of the year. I guess they had to spread the love. More interesting to me was the poor performance and general criticism of the Titan diesel.

 

$50k truck for $38k. Got to admit, that part made me laugh.

This was simply "Pickup of the Year". The Ram Rebel is an all around better performer than a Tacoma. Of course, that's to be expected from a bigger, more expensive vehicle.

If it was "4x4 of the Year" and most capable was the biggest factor, the Tacoma and Rebel would lose to the Powerwagon.

 

What you say is basically true, and that was part of my point... that it's a flawed comparison.

 

Yeah? Cheap? Last year we paid cash for five vehicles in a Toyota dealership OCONUS
3 hiluxes at $32k per
2 land cruisers at $88k per
Quite cheap

 

But of course!
Toyota Spend big ad money on the '16 model debut.
Honestly, I can't recall the last time I saw any Tacoma TV advertising for it (previous gens).
Thus the golden rule rules.....Money talks and B/S walks