Toyota cars are known for incredible reliability, and that reliability sometimes means not changing things. This lack of changes can sometimes hurt a car, but in the Toyota Tacoma’s case, it may be helping it. Indeed, despite new competition in its segment like the Ford Ranger, the Tacoma has just had its best year yet.

The Toyota Tacoma’s 2019 sales

As Express News reports, 2019 was the best year for the Tacoma in terms of sales. Toyota sold almost 249,000 Tacomas in 2019, and that’s an increase of 1.3% from 2018. That said, while this is impressive for the Tacoma, the Tacoma’s bigger sibling, the Tundra, didn’t do too well in 2019.

The Tundra sold only about 111,000 trucks in 2019, and that’s 5.6% less than how many were sold in 2018. On top of that, compared to its competition, such as the Ford F-150, the Tundra came in far behind.

Express News says that the F-150, which is the best selling full-size pickup truck, had over 900,000 sales in 2019. This is not very surprising as the Tundra doesn’t have a great reputation compared to the Tacoma.

Minor upgrades to the 2020 Tacoma

While the Tacoma has largely been unchanged in the 2020 model year, Toyota did make some small improvements. These upgrades were largely targeted at minor aspects of the Tacoma.

For example, Toyota now offers a 7-inch touchscreen on the Tacoma as standard. This touchscreen will be compatible with Apple CarPlay and Android Auto. This change doesn’t make the Tacoma a better or worse work truck, but it certainly makes it more fun to drive or sit around in one. Other upgrades improve the off-roading capability of some Tacoma trims, but again, not by too much. 

Torque News also says that the Tacoma will finally get a powered driver’s seat on certain trims of the Tacoma. This has been a feature that many drivers have asked for and Toyota has delivered it. But, once again, this doesn’t change the capabilities of the Tacoma at all. This is just another convenience feature that does make the Tacoma better to drive or sit in.

Still hard working  

While the engine and the capability of the Toyota Tacoma hasn’t changed in the 2020 model year, it seems like these minor convenience upgrades were enough to convince many people to buy the Tacoma, according to TorqueNews. It makes sense too, as changing the stuff under the hood could mean changing how reliable the Tacoma is. 

A car’s powertrain is the part of the car that needs to be absolutely reliable, and Toyota seems to have found a great formula for it. Of course, the reliability of the other systems matters too, but if a Tacoma stops working in the middle of a highway, then that will fly in the face of its reliable reputation.

Additionally, while the Tacoma is a great, tough truck, it’s also not that bad when it comes to doing non-truck things. Toyota cars are also known for impeccable safety, and the Tacoma isn’t an exception.

It’s very safe as is, and as a result, there’s no reason why the Tacoma can’t be used as a city truck. On top of that, while it’s still a truck, the Tacoma’s fuel economy isn’t terrible. It gets about 20 MPG in the city and 23 MPG on highways.

When all of those reasons and more are combined with what truck lovers already love with the Tacoma, then it’s obvious why the Tacoma is still doing so well in the face of new competition. The Tacoma can do it all, and it can do it for a long time. For many Americans, that’s exactly what they’re looking for in a pickup truck.