The Toyota Tacoma has been one of the best-selling trucks in America for a while now. However, pickup trucks seem to be on the decline overall in the U.S. market. And the Tacoma isn’t even alone. Sales for all new cars are down and prices are up. What do the numbers for Toyota Tacoma sales indicate for the bigger picture?

Toyota Tacoma sales in 2021 compared to pickup truck sales in 2022

GoodCarBadCar has the sales figures for the Toyota Tacoma. In 2021, the Tacoma sold 252,490 units over the entire year. Toyota Tacoma sales for the first month, January 2021, moved 18,878 units. After that, February saw 20,578 units sold, and March shot up to 26,993 units. Those numbers began to drop toward the end of the year, with only 19,423 units moved off the proverbial lot by the time December 2021 rolled around.

Looking at the first few months of 2022, Toyota Tacoma sales are definitely down. January 2022 saw the sale of 15,285 Tacomas. That is about the same amount sold during the first month of the COVID-19 (coronavirus) pandemic in March of 2020. February 2022 wasn’t much better, selling 16,185 units. Closing out the third month of Q1 2022, Toyota sold 21,712 Tacomas.

Comparing the two first quarters, the Toyota Tacoma sales for Q1 2021 ended with 66,449 units sold. Q1 2022 saw 53,182 units sold.

How did Toyota Tacoma sales compare to the Ford F-Series pickup truck?

There is a shift happening in the way U.S. consumers are buying. There also continue to be supply chain issues and semiconductor chip problems impacting production. Due to both of these reasons, the sales figures for Q1 2022 are all over the place. Looking at the numbers for Ford F-Series sales, a similar situation emerges.

The first three quarters of 2021 saw the following units moved: 55,276 (Jan), 64,478 (Feb), and 84,043 (Mar). For 2022, the numbers are: 50,543 (Jan), 45,252 (Feb), and 44,906 (Mar). The numbers for the Ford F-Series truck haven’t been that low since the 2013 and 2014 years.

While Toyota Tacoma sales are down, Edmunds says sales of most new cars, trucks, and SUVs are down. GM sales were down 20%, Toyota sales were down 16.7%, and Ford sales were down 17.9% compared to Q1 2021.

There isn’t enough new car inventory for buyers

A recent CNBC article noted that sales were likely to fall due to the lack of new cars available. New vehicle sales overall were down 14% compared to last year. Less than 3.3 million new vehicles were sold. General Motors, Honda, Nissan, and Volkswagen are inching toward 20% sales declines year-over-year. Ford was only a bit better than that, around 17%.

While sales numbers are falling, prices for everything are still rising. The cost of a new car is up by 15.4% in March 2022 compared to the same time in 2021. The price of a new vehicle sits at $43,500. Not to mention the price of gas is up as well.

“Skyrocketing gas prices were top of mind for consumers in March, but the lack of inventory is what ultimately depressed new vehicle sales in the first quarter,” Edmunds’ executive director of insights, Jessica Caldwell, said to CNBC. While the numbers for Toyota Tacoma sales are definitely down, it isn’t alone in that drop. Automakers like Toyota and Ford are hoping for a rebound in Q2 2022, but it is too soon to tell.