Do We Know Anything About 2020 Tacoma?

Actually the 4 cylinder eco boost in the new ranger outputs more HP and Torque....

 

The Ranger is going after the declining sedan market and the shifting SUV market. It desperately need to attract small/mid SUV customers to the Ranger line.

The buying criteria for these markets are dominated by features many on this forum are being very dismissive of. Toyota is absolutely F'd in the A. If Camry, Rav4, and Highlander customers start looking into MidSize pickups, because the Tacoma is not positioned to attract customers from this shifting market.

Have your seen those Toyota Rav4/Highlander commercials bragging about best in class horsepower/towing? Ya, you never will.


On the plus side, you will not see as many soccer moms driving Tacomas, as you see driving Escapes and Santa Fe's.

 

So Toyota should pull a page out the CryCo book and bet big on vehicles that don't get impressive MPG? This hasn't worked out too well for any of the big three in the last 15 years.

 

I looked for months for a green one...... Never found one.

 

Floral wallpaper hasn't been in since the 90s

 

I predicted about 3 years ago that burgundy/maroon would be popular and now when you walk around department stores that's about all there is in clothing color. I have a feeling green will be making a comeback soon.

 

Heck my 03 had that

 

I think would like to see a flat type green to come back. I did mention this to someone at my local Toyota dealership and they responded with "I wish, but the color is yellow".

I hope not.

 

Flat is a hard finish for manufacturers to make inexpensively. For example, they'd probably sell way more of the tan 3rd gens if they weren't a gloss finish. I've always wondered why they don't just push that cost to the customer.

 

A real motor and manual in all trims. those two things are the reason I own a Runner. If I had to drive a auto, it wasn't gonna be the one offered in the new tacoma.

 

Damn right! Best color ever

 

I am assuming most people are not aware of how badly/ quickly the mid size/ full size SUV luxury market is shifting to luxury pickup, and how the premium sedan is shifting to crossover/mid size SUV.

Day 1 business school.

Do not spend your resources on increasing your share of a decreasing market.

What I am saying is.....

Option 1. Stay the course. Your products are good enough. Let others push the market and hope they don't push it to far. What have you got to lose? Margin, momentum, oppty.

Option 2.
Hedge your bets. Improve the Tacoma to better compete in a market that is shifting away from what has not changed in almost 20 years. Add common sense improvements that are inexplicably missing decades after they were introduced in the SUV market.

Option 3. Reinvent
Consider a net new product line perfectly aimed at the emerging oppty. This is expensive and risky.

BTW, I think the 4runner and Tacoma brand loyalty makes option 2 the best.

Why are we on 3rd gen Tacoma, but 5th Gen 4runner? Because the market dictated rapid refresh of the product line meant more margin.

 

All this talk of green. Has anyone seen one of these?

 

Yes, actually. At the grocery store, yesterday. I looked at my wife, and said “Now, that’s a good truck color!”
It looked better in different lighting.

 

This is the green machine

 

Super option- keep it real.

Keep the Tacoma the (relatively) small off-road utility pickup it always was. Ignore the cries from the washed up domesticated people who want it to be a minivan, so that they can still look the part. Keep it legacy, because that truck is always needed. Ignore the cries from people who need it to be a track car. Ignore the bros who need it to be 600 hp with twin turbo. KEEP it a small displacement, super reliable engine that is decent on gas and will never die. Since it’s strayed from that formula, it’s been plagued with problems. Start over. Delete the bullshit. Let it be what it was originally, and let everyone else buy a corvette/minivan/track car/diesel hauler

 

I saw one last week. I wasn't sure it it was a factory color, since I've never seen a green 300, but it looked like a Chrysler color. I'm still not sure if I like it, maybe on a different vehicle.

My neighbor has a 200, that is almost cavalry blue.

 

I still assume they want to make money.
What you described was the first option I listed.

I will go one step further. If they realeased a 2010 Toyota Tacoma at a 2010 price with cool exclusive colors, I think it would sell very well.

Vintage edition

 

It would sell, but we would see an absurd market adjustment on the monroney label, and people would pay it.

 

I just sold this one 6 months ago, was supercharged too, a real unicorn