goducks10 wrote:
The Hilux is smaller than the Tacoma. Toyota could easily take the Tacoma, drop a diesel in it, beef it up some and have virtually the same thing. Way cheaper than bringing in the Hilux. The Tacoma could be packaged as an HD model. Same as Ford does with the F150. But then that would impact Tundra sales.
I have been hearing for years that small pickups just do not sell well in the US. Some say people just want big pickups and some say the market dried up. In reality, if you focus all the best efforts on the big trucks (F150, Ram, Silverado, Tundra) and let the small ones to be neglected and die on the vine (Ranger, Dakota, previous Colorado, Tacoma) then people certainly will buy the big pickups because they are so much better and get good fuel economy with all the new technology. The new Colorado and the upcoming new Tacoma appear to be going against this grain, and that is good to see. The market does exist. Not everyone wants a large vehicle as a daily driver, fuel economy and pricing aside.
Some also say that manufacturers such as Ford do not want the global Ranger sold in the US because it would impact F150 sales. This is such a strange argument. Using that logic, maybe Ford should quit building the Edge, Flex, Explorer, and Escape since those ultimately impact Expedition sales. Maybe GM should quit building the Equinox and Traverse since that impacts Suburban sales.
