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At a Toyota event today the company’s marketing team told members of the press that the new Tacoma will be shown to the public in just weeks. It will be revealed at the Detroit Auto Show (Formally called the North American International Auto Show). The reveal will take place following the first full month of sales for the all-new 2015 Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon. This is not a coincidence.

Tacoma Update Needed
Having had the smaller than full-size truck market to share with only Nissan for the past few years, Toyota had little reason to update its popular Tacoma. Although truck fanatics turn up their noses at the Tacoma and all Toyota trucks for that matter, the Tacoma came within a few dozen vehicles of outselling the entire Cadillac brand in November. The truck is a huge success for Toyota and an important contributor to Toyota’s industry-leading profitability. A successful Chevrolet Colorado and GMC Canyon could put a dent in the Tacoma if Toyota does not update the truck.

Speculation On Tacoma
Many, including this writer, have assumed that the new Tacoma would have to be dramatically more modern and fuel efficient to compete with the Colorado which offers a powerful V6 that is more fuel efficient than Toyota’s 4-cyliner truck and more powerful than Toyota’s V6. That may not necessarily be true. Toyota could focus on updates to the truck that satisfy its core group of owners and fans and still compete in the showroom even if it doesn’t on a specification sheet.

In any case, the speculation will be over soon. The Detroit auto show opens to the press January 12th. The public show opens January 17th.

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