2017 Toyota Tacoma Sales Edge Out GM Colorado and Canyon, but By How Much?

Toyota’s truck division announced this month that it just “… post(ed) best-ever light truck sales for the month.” While we don’t doubt that’s true, the Tacoma’s 15,875 units sold in October were ahead of GM’s Chevy Colorado (10,578) and Canyon (2,785) combined by a much smaller margin than in past reports.

Monthly sales are not strictly indicative of a vehicle’s popularity. The Tacoma, Colorado, and Canyon are all wildly popular. Production constraints and monthly build schedules are the main drivers of this "sales contest" we report on. GM’s production changes have driven its sales up, and the Tacoma’s production has been maxed out now for over a year. Toyota is changing its plants’ configurations and capacities and will add more Mexico-built Tacomas next year. For now, its Tundra and Tacoma capacity is shared and maxed out.

These are not the only players in the midsize truck segment. Honda and Nissan are also in the mix. Honda’s Ridgeline has now settled in at between 3,000 and 4,000 units per month. It could still be production-limited sales volume for this new truck, but we don’t think so. The aging Nissan Frontier is selling relatively well. It earned 6,364 units of sales this past month, continuing a multi-month streak of significantly improved sales compared to last year. Still, even in combination, these two trucks would still trail the Tacoma by a wide margin.