[kaisen]

There are three reasons to buy a small-ish truck: Size, Price, and Fuel economy.

The size of this segment has grown, and grown to the point where a crew cab 4x4 isn't all that far off what a half ton truck used to be. A Double Cab Tacoma is over 18.5 ft long, where a full-size is barely over 19.0 ft, and they are within 5 inches in width. So the more manageable size isn't really much of an attraction these days as they're simply not that much smaller.

Prices of everything have gone up. A typical half-ton crew cab 4x4 is $45K MSRP. So the smaller trucks need to have enough gap in price to make them attractive. But when you sell nearly a million full size trucks it makes it difficult to position the little ones for much less when you only sell 150K. So de-contenting and cheaper materials are required.

Fuel economy of smaller trucks is a joke. A new GM or Ford half-ton Crew Cab 4x4 with 350+ horsepower and 380+ lb-ft gets 21-22 mpg on the freeway. A new Toyota Tacoma 4x4 with either the 236 hp 4.0L V6 or the 159 hp 2.7L I4 get 21 mpg freeway. So there is ZERO benefit in fuel economy. None.

So, that's why the Ford Ranger disappeared. That's why the GM small trucks took a hiatus. That's why Dodge cancelled the Dakota. The fact that the Tacoma still sells at all is because the competitors have disappeared, and remaining buyers are blindly loyal.

As they re-emerge in the US market, they need to be smaller, less expensive, and more fuel efficient or they likely won't make it. Diesels are a good step in that direction, esp if they can return better than 30 mpg freeway.