The American pickup truck market is dominated by home manufacturers, primarily Ford, Chevrolet, GMC and Ram. U.S. manufacturers profit from a loyal purchaser base, and a 25% tax on imported vehicles.

However the Toyota Tacoma reveals how a international automaker can discover and management a distinct segment inside that market.

The highest-selling full-size pickup line is Ford’s F-Sequence, particularly the F-150, which can also be the bestselling car in America, in line with Edmunds. GM and Ram pickups path Ford, which additionally has the top-selling compact pickup truck — the Maverick.

However U.S. automakers have wavered of their dedication to smaller pickups, whereas the Japanese automaker Toyota has had a presence within the section way back to the Seventies. Toyota launched the Tacoma in 1995 as a successor to the Toyota Pickup, famously generally known as the Hilux elsewhere on the earth. In the meantime, Ford Motor discontinued the Ranger after the 2011 mannequin 12 months, after which revived it in 2019. GM pulled the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon off the market in 2012, earlier than reviving each in 2014.

In 2023, Toyota offered over 237,000 Tacomas within the U.S., far outpacing all of its midsize rivals by a large margin. The subsequent greatest vendor was the Chevrolet Colorado, which offered simply shy of 72,000 items. The GMC Canyon, a barely higher-end model of the identical truck, provides roughly one other 22,600 in gross sales for the U.S. automaker.

Toyota’s cautious consideration to the wants of Tacoma house owners is seen as a part of the rationale for that loyal market base and the mannequin’s constant gross sales. For instance, about 40% of Tacoma house owners take their vehicles off-road at the least as soon as a month, so Toyota provides a number of off-road packages for the truck.

What’s extra, of the some seven fashions within the midsize section, Tacoma is the one one which comes with an extended mattress. It additionally is just one of two that is available in a two-door model, and one in all two that comes with handbook transmission. Toyota’s deal with high quality, sturdiness and reliability, or QDR, helped as effectively. Tacomas have among the highest residual values in the marketplace.

However trade forecasters say the variety of fashions within the section is about to double over the following few 12 months, to a complete of round 14. Traditionally, the pickups have a couple of 20% share of the general car market (double checking that is proper?), and the midsize section is only a fraction of that. That interprets into much more competitors for a similar clients within the close to future.

Watch the video to be taught extra about how the Tacoma has stayed atop the midsize truck section, and the way it’s working to satisfy the problem of an increasing market.