It may be one of the oldest platforms in its segment, but the 2023 Toyota Tacoma dominated mid-size truck sales in 2022.
Toyota sold 237,323 units in 2022, a slight decrease of 6.3% compared to 2021. Despite this, the Tacoma retained its midsize sales crown in the US for the 18th straight year. It's not quite as impressive as 46 years of dominance for the Ford F Series, but considering the Tacoma has only existed since 1995, Toyota deserves a ton of credit.
Pickup trucks are an American staple, so to watch a Japanese automaker enter the market and outperform the likes of Ford and General Motors is nothing short of tremendous. Here's how the mid-size competition stacked up against Toyota.
American Competitors
Ford Ranger sales dropped tremendously from 94,755 in 2021 to 57,005 in 2022, a 39.8% decrease.
With a brand-new Ranger coming for the 2024 model year, Ford likely deprioritized production of the outgoing model to focus on other products and preparing the factory for new tooling. The Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon are in a similar position, with new 2024 models set to arrive later this year. Chevy sold 89,197 units (a 22.2% increase), and GMC sold 27,819 units (a 15.3% increase). The Jeep Gladiator is a niche truck, but it sold impressively, with 77,855 units (a 13% decrease).
Since the company doesn't break down sales by model, we don't know precisely how many Rivian R1T Truck units were sold. Rivian, as a whole, sold 20,332 units in 2022.
The Other Japanese Brands
Toyota has competition from Japan in the midsize truck segment, but it wasn't a particularly close battle.
The Nissan Frontier sold 76,183 units (a 25.5% increase) thanks to its first complete design since the 2004 model year. It was an impressive increase but not enough to overtake Ford, Chevy, or Jeep. The Honda Ridgeline sold 42,762 units, which is nearly identical (a 3.1% increase) to last year's number.
Honda has famously stated that it sells every Ridgeline it can build, and the company isn't interesting in competing at higher volumes.