Toyota Tacoma: A Rugged Winner

Toyota's new Tacoma midsize pickup truck, totally redesigned and updated in 2005, is really mopping the floors with its competition. In the first two months of this year, Tacoma sales were up 28.4%, to 26,145 units, quite a contrast to the huge drops suffered by rival models. During the same period sales were down 20.7%, to 12,569, for the Ford (F) Ranger; 24%, to 10,843, for DaimlerChrysler's (DCX) Dodge Dakota; 41%, to 10,845, for General Motors' (GM) Chevy Colorado; and 46.2%, to 25,564, for the GMC Canyon, the Colorado's sister model.

The extent of the Tacoma's success is surprising because Detroit used to dominate the pickup market, and truck buyers are notoriously loyal to their brands. Moreover, the latest models from GM, Ford, and DaimlerChrysler are pretty decent. The Dakota, Colorado, and Canyon have all been redesigned in the last couple of years, and the Ranger, though long in the tooth, is still a very nice truck (Full disclosure: I own an older Ranger and love it).