2024 Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter
Toyota
DETROIT – Size matters. Just ask the major American automakers.
Ferry, General Motors and Toyota are amongst those increasingly seeking to capitalize on the growing mid-size pickup segment: vehicles large enough to fetch high prices but sufficiently small to guard profit margins.
Small pickup trucks have evolved from entry-level work trucks to expensive, efficient, and highly cost-effective models that may cost over $60,000—very similar to luxury vehicles from BMW, Cadillac, and more.
“It’s just not aimed toward people on a budget, because I feel that is what the segment has been like for a very long time,” said Jessica Caldwell, executive director of insights at automotive research firm Edmunds. “Trucks are getting prettier, with more amenities, more features, and more emphasis on design.”
The mid-size pickup trucks follow in the footsteps of their larger, full-size counterparts like the Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado, and Toyota Tundra. They’ve turn into more efficient, larger and costlier with the influx of latest luxury and off-road variants and special features.
As of 2019, midsize vehicle sales exceeded 600,000 as consumer interest shifted from traditional sedans to business vehicles reminiscent of crossovers, SUVs and in fact pickup trucks.
In keeping with Edmunds, over the past decade, sales of traditional mid-size pickup trucks have greater than doubled to 4.4 percent.
S&P Global Mobility expects sales of mid-size pickups to proceed to grow in the coming years, but in 2026 there can be greater than 20,000 pickups.
The typical price paid for one in every of the vehicles can also be on the rise: over the past decade, the average price has increased by 53% from around $28,100 to over $42,000, Edmunds reports. This price increase is 3 percentage points higher than the industry as a complete.
Growing competition
The mid-size pickup segment has grown from three vehicles produced a decade ago to now seven gas-powered pickups, including Chevrolet, Ford, GMC, Honda, Jeep, Nissan and Toyota. Half of the brands have announced redesigned vehicles this yr, which is anticipated to extend interest and competition in the segment.
2023 GMC Canyon AT4X Edition 1
GM
“It’s really hotter than ever relating to midsize trucks,” Patrick Finnegan, GMC’s senior manager of trucks and full-size SUVs, told CNBC. “There’s rather more effort, energy and enthusiasm [and] growth in the segment than we have ever seen.”
While Detroit automakers dominate large pickup truck sales, Toyota Motor is the clear leader in mid-size pickup sales with its Tacoma.
Toyota has held a couple of 40% share of the US mid-size pickup truck segment since 2019, when Ford and Jeep re-entered the market, Edmunds reports. That is down from over 60 percent market share ten years ago – although Tacoma’s sales have increased by about 150 percent since then. – because rival automakers have launched recent trucks.
This can be a position Toyota has no plans to desert: “[Tacoma] is the best-selling vehicle in its segment… Our intention is to maintain it that way,” said Joseph Moses, Toyota North America general manager, Trucks and SUVs.
GM follows Toyota. Edmunds reports that the Detroit automaker’s share of the US mid-size pickup segment was around 19% last yr, followed by stellantsJeep Gladiator with 12.8% and Nissan Frontier with 12.5%. The Ford Ranger accounted for 9.4%, up from around 15% market share in the previous yr.
“I do not see any reason or way that Toyota’s dominance on this segment shouldn’t proceed,” said Stephanie Brinley, chief automotive analyst at S&P Global. “It’s gone down since 2017… nevertheless it’s still over 200,000 units [annually]. Nobody else is even close.”
Different strategies
The carmakers’ sales volume reflects their diverging strategies in the mid-size pickup segment.
Toyota is promoting what it calls a “Tacoma for everybody” with several variations on its standard model, including a two-door version of the Tacoma, two different bed lengths and a recent high-end off-roader Tracker model. It also offers the Tacoma with a manual transmission – a rarity in today’s automotive industry.
Meanwhile, its competitors have reduced the variety of cab and pickup configurations it offers, shifting exclusively to mid-sized four-door pickups with the option of a single bed to cut back complexity.
Much of the mid-range optionality is normally a game for profit. Ford CEO Jim Farley told investors last month that special variants – reminiscent of the recent high-performance Raptor model in the Ford Ranger line-up – share roughly 80% of the parts in common with regular models, but have 30% higher margins.
Raptor prices start at $56,960. That is almost $23,000 greater than the base Ranger model.
2024 Ford Ranger Raptor
Ferry
“The Raptor can be at the top of our Ranger line-up,” said Gretchen Sauer, Ford’s pickup truck marketing manager. “This can increase our overall Ranger deal price.”
GM considers Chevrolet to be its primary brand in the mid-size pickup segment, while GMC focuses on high-end models.
GMC’s Finnegan said the brand expects to win recent customers with the redesigned canyon. Much of this draw is anticipated at the higher end of the market with GMC’s AT4 and AT4X off-road models that might top each top $60,000.
“It’s a priority for us to enter this segment and increase our share,” said Finnegan. “I feel it’s secure to say that with all the recent entries in the segment, we expect the segment will proceed to grow.”