Forget The Slate, Toyota Wants To Make A Cheap Small Truck For America

“We’re looking at it.” With those four words, Toyota’s Chief Operating Officer in the U.S. confirmed what many fans want to hear. The brand is seriously considering a small and affordable pickup that would sit below the Tacoma. While he didn’t confirm how far along plans were, there’s a lot of smoke surrounding this situation.

Speaking with The Japan Times, Templin confirms what makes a lot of sense given the market. Most vehicles, trucks included, are getting more expensive and physically larger. A smaller, less expensive truck could generate not just a lot of revenue but a lot of buzz too.

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After all, the recently unveiled Slate EV trucklet made waves for communicating a starting price of around $21,000 after the federal tax credit for its bare-bones basic version. While that sounds pretty good at first glance, it quickly falls apart once you factor in the looming expiration of the $7,500 federal tax credit that will push its price back up to around $28,000. Suddenly, that deal doesn’t feel so sweet, especially if it’s missing so many comfort features we all take for granted.

Then there’s the little matter of the Slate still being, well, a “slate”, meaning it’s full of unknowns. Despite all the chatter online, it’s far from a proven product yet. In contrast, Toyota has already proven itself with years of reliability and a track record that speaks for itself.

That said, it highlights why vehicles like the Ford Maverick can be so successful. Average transaction prices for new cars are hovering around $50,000. By comparison, the Maverick starts below $29,000 and offers seating for five along with a bed for hauling things, and manages to get excellent gas mileage, too.

What’s the Hold-Up?

“We could really do well in that segment, so we’re trying to do it,” Cooper Ericksen, a senior vice president in charge of planning and strategy at Toyota Motor North America, said in a separate interview to The Japan Times. “It’s a matter of timing.”

While Toyota seems to be all in on the idea, it’s not just about market timing. It appears as though Toyota is already well into working on a small truck for the Brazilian market. When that news came out, we wondered if it could also end up in the U.S. Now, with tariff wars raging as they are, that’s all the more murky.

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Toyota will need to be careful to avoid heading down the path Hyundai has with the Santa Cruz. When it initially launched, it seemed like it might do well. Not long after, though, Ford introduced the more-truck like Maverick, even if it’s underpinnings are car-like too, with better stats on paper and a lower price. Since then, the Santa Cruz sold just 32,033 units last year, a stark contrast to the 131,142 Mavericks Ford delivered the same period. The numbers tell the story.

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