NEW YORK: Toyota dealers can look forward to production increases for the Tacoma compact pickup, which they see as key to reaffirming Toyota’s dominance of the segment and capitalizing on booming truck sales.
“One of the major issues facing Toyota dealers would be the lack of truck production,” said Jay Caldwell, owner of Caldwell Toyota in Conway, Ark., and chairman of the Toyota National Dealer Advisory Council.
“The thing we heard loud and clear from 12 of our 13 regions is that we need more trucks — both Tacoma and Tundra.”
A redesigned Tacoma is due to arrive this year as a 2016 model. Even though sales of compact pickups have slowed, Toyota said late last year that Tacoma inventories remain tight and that it’s working to increase production.
The Tijuana, Mexico, plant that builds the compact pickup is scheduled to add a third shift and produce 84,000 units annually starting in April. Toyota also builds Tacomas and Tundras at its plant in San Antonio.
All three Detroit automakers got out of the small-pickup market early in the decade, leaving Toyota as the dominant player.
The Tacoma, which last underwent a full redesign in 2004, claimed nearly two-thirds of compact pickup sales in 2014, with the Nissan Titan owning much of the rest.
But now the Tacoma faces renewed competition from the Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon, which GM reintroduced late last year. At a time of moderate growth for the brand overall, Toyota dealers are counting on sales of pickups, SUVs and crossovers to fuel profits.
The truck market “is extremely hot and that looks like it’s going to continue,” said Caldwell. “In Arkansas, I feel it.”
