Toyota unveiled the redesigned Tacoma last week and now the automaker is giving us a glimpse into its development.
The process started more than four years ago and took place during the coronavirus pandemic, which “didn’t make development easy.” However, the big news is that Americans played a much larger role in the creation of the latest Tacoma.
While Japan is normally heavily involved in vehicle development, the company embraced the idea that Toyota Motor North America (TMNA) should have more control over vehicles designed for the North American market. As a result, “major decisions” were made at TMNA R&D headquarters in York Township, Michigan and TMNA headquarters in Plano, Texas.
This hands-off approach was pioneered with the Tundra and Tacoma Chief Engineer Sheldon Brown noted, TMNA led “everything from the initial project planning to the cost analysis to the development of the final product.”
Besides being designed and developed in the United States, the Tacoma was extensively tested here as well. A total of 401 prototypes were built for testing purposes and that’s the “most units ever for a TMNA R&D prototype build.”
The prototypes were subjected to an assortment of tests, both on- and off-road. In particular, a few dozen engineers traveled to Arizona to test the truck on trails customers could encounter. As part of this process, the trucks were outfitted with traditional off-road accessories and loaded to “darn near GVW.”
As a refresher, the 2024 Tacoma is the Swiss army knife of pickups as it offers two body styles as well as 5’ and 6’ beds. Customers will also find automatic and manual transmissions as well as three powertrains based on a turbocharged 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine. The most notable is the i-Force Max, which is hybridized and produces 326 hp (243 kW / 331 PS) and 465 lb-ft (630 Nm) of torque.
