Remember when the launch of a new car used to jump from sneaky spy shots to the full reveal with no pre-amble? Those days are long gone. In the modern age, brands grab every opportunity to hype up their car, starting with teaser images that give almost nothing away about the vehicle in question.
To be fair to Toyota, at least we can tell from this cryptic teaser that just appeared on its official Instagram account that the vehicle is a truck. And that being the case we’ve got a pretty big hunch that it’s the new Tacoma.
The current version of the popular mid-size truck was first seen at the North American International Auto Show way back in January 2015, so it’s ripe for reinvention. And thanks to patent drawings filed in Brazil – and unfortunately for Toyota’s attempts to maintain an air of mystery – we already know that the next generation of Tacoma will borrow significant design cues from the bigger, chunkier Tundra that went into production for the 2022 model year.
Related: 2024 Toyota Tacoma Gets Rendered Into Reality
Not seen in the teaser image, the patent drawings revealed a similarly squared nose and small slats beneath the headlights, though the overall grille shape remains more like the enclosed one on the current Tacoma, rather than stretching down to encompass the central section of the bumper, as the Tundra does. The Tacoma also features triangular air inlets on its fender flares that the bigger truck does not, but both pickups feature fog lights integrated into the bumper.
The new Tacoma sticks with body-on-frame construction and is also rumored to be built around the same TNGA-F platform found on the Tundra and other big Toyota vehicles including the latest Land Cruiser and Lexus LX. Those same rumors suggest it will be available with a hybrid-assisted 2.4-liter four-cylinder engine currently available in both the Lexus RX 500h and Toyota Crown, where it develops up to 366 hp (371 PS).
That’s a very different kind of powertrain to either of the two motors available in the current Tacoma, those being a naturally-aspirated 2.7-liter four with just 159 hp (161 PS), and a 278 hp (282 PS) 3.5-liter V6, again with no turbo. Both are available with rear- or all-wheel drive and we’d expect Toyota to carry on that tradition, and to come good with a stack of TRD tuning goodies to dissuade Tacoma fans from heading over to aftermarket suppliers to personalize their trucks.
