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