How The Toyota Tacoma Took On America’s Pickup Trucks

The pickup truck segment is perhaps Detroit’s last stronghold in the automotive market. And American manufacturers lead or outright dominate three out of four segments - compact, full-size and heavy duty are all led by Ford, GM and Stellantis. But for for the mid-size category, Toyota is king. The Toyota Tacoma outsells all of its rivals by large margin, and has had the longest running tenure in the segment. Consistency, careful attention to customers and Toyota’s stellar reputation for quality, durability and reliability have helped secure its lead, even when it hasn’t been the most innovative player. But the segment is growing more crowded. Watch the video above to learn how the Japanese automaker took the crown.

Chapters:
0:00 - 1:41 Title card - How Toyota took on America’s trucks
1:50 Chapter 1 - Staying the course
4:45 Chapter 2 - The ‘good enough’ truck
9:17 Chapter 3 - Challenges

Producer: Robert Ferris
Editor: Darren Geeter
Animation: Christina Locopo
Senior Managing Producer: Tala Hadavi
Post Production Support: Evan Lee Miller
Additional footage: Getty Images, Ford, Toyota, GM, Hyundai, BMW, Mercedes, Rivian

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How The Toyota Tacoma Took On America’s Pickup Trucks

[beunvme]

Went to rural Pennsylvania past weekend and Tacoma's were everywhere. I guess Americans got tired of American car companies rolling out $100k pickups that break down all the time.

[dt]

My dad's 2000 Tundra recently hit 500K miles, still uses it every day for work. The reliability is unmatched. Part of it has to do with Toyota using the same relatively simple engines for many years across their line up, always refining them. The 4Runner has had the same engine for over 15 years.

[electrikoptik]

Travel outside the US and you’ll know why Toyota is KING. The only pickup you’ll ever see outside the US is the legendary Hilux. You’ll find 30+ year old Hilux still driving around in the most remote places on earth. Ain’t nobody buying F-150 or Silverado in Africa!

[adilusa]

Toyota has to start selling working vans in the US. Those would sell as hot cakes.

[quakerome]

As an American I would rather have the Toyota. I never seen a Toyota stranded all my years of living being on the road.

[bjsimon]

I rented a 2017 Tacoma, that truck was amazing. I was driving on gravel road and it drove like a Lexus, everything about that truck was amazing.

[sactownism]

I bought a used 2003 Toyota Tundra with 60k original miles. Truck drives amazing and people were shocked how low mileage the truck was for its age. Glad I found this truck.

[SLiX-thatguym-]

It's crazy to think the Tacoma and the Ranger are in the same mid-size segment when the Tacoma would be too big outside of America. The Ranger outside of America competes with the Hilux (leader), Navara, D-MAX, and Triton. Detroit owns America, but Japan owns Asia and Australia, and likely also South America and Africa.

[travismester]

Toyota has the reliability factor. A Tacoma will run 30 years or 300, 000 miles in a “developing nation” with just the usual upkeep. Couldn’t say that about any other truck brand right now.

[Scott-iwyr]

They aren't lying about the resale value. I had a 2005 Tacoma I bought in 2014 for 16k$ and just traded in at the dealership for $10k. It had over 200k miles on it!

[trepan]

I own a mid 2010s Tacoma, and I will be buying another one once the time comes. Toyota builds the perfect truck for me.

[planoman]

On our 3rd Tacoma. We have a 2023 and 2024. They are very popular in DFW. My son attends Texas A&M and they are everywhere in College Station. Folks are complaining about the prices but they have 8 trims at many different price points.

[jayjay]

Honestly I see tundra becoming a big competitor and dominating the truck industry in the near future

[KevinSmith-qiyn]

I think it's very simple how Tacoma became the bestselling mid-size. In 2005 Dodge dropped the ball and priced the Dakota 50% higher than it should have been. As a result, potential buyers went with the more capable Ram 1500 or moved over to the cheaper Tacoma. Rather than correcting the error, Dodge left the market after its bankruptcy in 2008.

[antn]

North America is really missing out on the Toyota Turbo Diesel in the Fortrunner.

[RC-wtfr]

Toyota's are here for a good time AND a long time.

[chad]

Proud 5th Gen 4Runner owner here. I almost went for the Tacoma but realized the SUV is just more practical for me. But I would still love to pick up a 2nd or 3rd gen Tacoma in the future and mod it.

[realgtasacramentodashcam]

I'm still driving my 1998 Tacoma Prerunner, love it, don't even want anything else.

[mrxiong]

The Toyota Tacoma is the best off-roader 4x4 truck by a huge margin.

[EcomCarl]

Impressive to see the Toyota Tacoma maintaining its top spot in such a competitive market! 🚚 Consistency in meeting customer needs and maintaining a reputation for reliability truly sets it apart.