New Generation of Toyota Diesels Not Going In Your Tacoma

http://nextbigfuture.com/2015/06/toyotas-revamped-next-generation-turbo.html

 

Well, this is informative. Those who blame US emissions standards for Toyota not bringing diesel to the US should now see that it isnt true. They've developed a world diesel platform that virtually eliminates NOx emissions, so it likely meets or is very close to meeting US standards, but Toyota still won't bring it here, at least for a while. It is about market demand and how fuel is taxed in the US.

 

Yeah I thought that article was pretty interesting. I know it's been said that they didn't want to go diesel because of future emissions, but those diesels seem to be pretty far ahead of the standards. I still don't think it will happen unless sales of the diesel Colorado explode, which I also don't think will happen but if it does it seems like Toyota has an engine in their back pocket.

 

http://www.torquenews.com/1083/toyota-explains-why-there-no-2016-diesel-tacoma-coming
"No Diesel 2016 Tacoma
At NIAS Automobile’s Mark Nordeloos did the interview that made it all crystal clear. Interviewing Toyota’s Mark Sweers, he asked, “What is Toyota’s stance on diesel engines for the U.S. pickup truck market?” Rather than dodge the question or leave it vague so that Tacoma owners can continue to pine away for a diesel, Sweers said “The difficulty with the diesel is LEV III [emissions standards]. The difficulty is the cost-to-benefit relationship. Everybody loves diesel in trucks. The downside is the after-treatment systems can add $3,000 or more. It starts becoming cost prohibitive, especially in this segment, to pay a premium for both the engine and after-treatment system. That’s the struggle we have. We build a lot of diesel trucks, just not in this country. If I develop a diesel system for our country and I spend a huge amount of money to do that, I won’t see a return on the investment. That’s what we’ve struggled with.”

Its a cost benefit for Toyota in the US market.

 

It's a cost benefit for Toyota in the US market. Just like its a cost benefit for Toyota to drop the standard cab option? If they kept it in production, they would have cornered the market for that cab configuration. We all know that wise old Toyota researchers know best at all times. Nobody wants a standard cab truck, let alone one with a V-6 and the option of a manual transmission right?

 

Its not that no one wants one, its that in general, a company that has fewer SKUs will have higher margins. Apple spends a LOT MORE in r&d for each product, but always has margins 2-3x higher than the rest of the market. Is it magic? No. Its because they have one keyboard, one mouse, one entry in each segment. Samsung has like 14 different phone models at any given time. Shit, Asus has 5 different versions of the zenbook. I can't even count how many laptops they make. Even when Apple offers multiple products in a category, they use nearly all the same parts (iphone 6 and 6 plus).