Tacoma sales steady; a rant about goobertubers

The You Tube Influencers have reinvented executive sales middle Management

 

This probably is also affected by economic conditions changing. It’s hard to maintain the same sales numbers after more than doubling interest rates, insurance rates, etc

 

New model ramp up plus manufacturing holds were quite obvious when I was shopping in the summer. The @snickers link shows it just like talk from the better of or straight forward within several dealers in my search. All of a sudden what I was after did not keep getting dates pushed out and they started landing at dealers.

Otherwise with perspective of age and my work in an enterprise we have a surprisingly normal economy many don't seem to see or might not think of when you've experienced a number of recessions, cycles, and where interest rates have been. One element in higher prices is a trend for supply chain diversity with some on shoring, and first line workers wages. Our enterprise is in same trend as many with a lot of people at the lower end having higher wages, and the effective way you chase after specialty skills is with wages too. Insurance costs are a somewhat different animal and I get the unfortunate reasons those are higher.

Considering all the swings I've seen in near 50 years of paychecks, savings accounts, mortgages and employment rates, I'll take it!

 

Most people are dismissing "net segment" and focusing on unitary as a black-and-white measure.

The Prius was once the best selling Hybrid in the market with 200-235K units/year in the 2010-2014 years and down to 35K/year more recently. It's not because it got worse, but because everybody else came out with a good option, and then EVs came on the scene, so market share went down while market size went up.

Tesla unit sales are up YoY, but their market share % is down over a whole point in 2024, because other brands have solid options out there.

And likewise, midsize pickup sales are up as a market, but Tacoma share is down because other makers now offer great options. 5 years ago, it would be easy to say the Tacoma was the only solid all around midsize on the market. Today? Look past any fanboy sentiment, and take your pick between the Tacoma, Frontier, Ranger or Canyon/Colorado. The Ridgeline isn't exactly a slouch either as a daily road pickup. It doesn't mean the Tacoma is worse, just means we all get to enjoy getting to choose different flavors.

 

Also better competition should increase the quality and value of the product that Toyota offers. If they get a lot of feedback saying, "___ manufacturer is offering a V6 with more HP and better mpg for less money that tows more and comes with a free jelly of the month subscription" maybe Toyota will offer a jelly of the month subscription too.