Teased Out: New Tacoma to Appear May 19

After what seems like a lifetime of being strung along, Toyota has finally dropped a firm date on which they will introduce the new Tacoma. And, true to form, they also published some photos from which we can parse some detail.

First up, we can say with confidence the next Tacoma will have four wheels, vanquishing any rumour that the upcoming model plans to challenge the Polaris Slingshot or Morgan 3-Wheeler. Next, the truck definitely has an open box, meaning Toyota is not suddenly turning this thing into a flatbed or station wagon. Finally, it seems the powerplant will be located in front of the driver, suggesting the thoughts of this pickup morphing into a mid-engine hot rod was just a fever dream after all.

We’re being intentionally ridiculous with those statements, of course. If the Big T is intent on dragging things out with a seemingly endless parade of teaser shots, the least we can do is have a bit of fun. As for this new quartet of photos, it appears obvious that one with the brownish background portends the Trailhunter model, a trim which has been confirmed and will likely come equipped with visual frippery such as the cab extender and roof rack shown on this silhouette. The color choice is appropriate for the Trailhunter, as well.

The others? One of them is likely a TRD Sport (the red background, maybe?), while the white could be a TRD Pro – peep the lack of front chin spoiler and presence of a jutting rear recovery hook. We’ll say the images are rounded out with a base SR5, though that’s just a wild guess. The cab seems smaller than the others, suggesting an Access Cab configuration, but that could simply be our jaundiced eyes. If accurate, it would make the Tacoma one of the few in this segment offering such a style, since some others have flipped the script to solely live the Crew Cab life. 

In terms of powertrain, look for a brace of four-cylinder engine options, one appended with hybrid gubbins under the iForce MAX banner. Toyota has all but officially said there will be a manual transmission option on at least one trim; look for that on the non-hybrid truck, most likely. And it goes without saying that four-wheel drive will be offered across the board.

But the date of May 19 is over two weeks away, so there’s every chance in the world that Toyota still has a few more teasers up its corporate sleeve.

[Image: Toyota]

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