Toyota Tacoma Production Is Maxed Out As The Midsize Pickup Truck Category Rapidly Expands

America’s midsize pickup truck segment grew 19 percent in the first seven months of 2016. But as demand for midsize pickups expands throughout the remainder of 2016, it’s increasingly unlikely that the Toyota Tacoma will be able to make the most of the heightened interest.

Tacoma inventory has been tight for months, requiring Toyota to take full advantage of very specific modifications put in place at the San Antonio, Texas, and Baja California, Mexico, production lines a number of years ago.

No longer does a Tacoma roll off the San Antonio line every 65 seconds — it now takes only 60 seconds. There’s even a Saturday shift that drives the San Antonio plant up to 123-percent capacity.

“We could sell a lot more trucks right now,” David Crouch, vice president of administration and production control at the San Antonio plant, told Automotive News.

But there’s simply no capacity for more pickup truck production at the Texas facility, which also builds full-size Tundra trucks. Any acceleration in one corner of the plant would need to be matched by an equal rate of acceleration at all other potential bottlenecks, not to mention the speed at which suppliers — many are located right next door — can deliver parts to the Toyota plant.

The Toyota Tacoma is the dominant figure in America’s midsize pickup truck arena. Even in July, as Tacoma volume dipped 3 percent, and the Honda Ridgeline rose to a 95-month high, and Nissan reported a 73-percent Frontier increase, and GM’s twins added 2,864 sales, Toyota still produced greater than four-in-ten U.S. midsize truck sales.

The Tacoma was thoroughly refreshed for the 2016 model year. Sales in 2015 rose to an all-time record high.

[Image: Toyota]