Hybrid Confirmed: No Stick for 2024 Tacoma TRD Pro?
Precious few manual hybrids exist. So a next-gen Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro with a stick looks like a long shot.
This week, we got our first official look at the 2024 Tacoma. As industry watchers have suspected, and as the Brazilian patent filings suggested, Toyota’s next-generation mid-size will share some styling cues with the Tundra.
Another thing the Taco will share with its larger sibling, as the image above confirms, is an available hybrid powertrain. But what Toyota isn’t saying — and to be fair, it’s not saying a lot — is whether its range-topping off-roader will be available with a stick. So I’m going to break the news for them.
Sorry friends, but the 2024 Toyota Tacoma TRD Pro won’t have a manual transmission option. Nope.
Now, this isn’t the first time I’ve predicted that a three-pedal gearbox will fall off the forthcoming Tacoma’s options list. And for the record? I could be wrong. Heaven knows it’s happened before. Perhaps, unlike the current model, the future TRD Pro will have a pair of engine options. That’s certainly not outside the realm of possibility.
But that’s the only way I see a stick shift TRD Pro happening. Because precious few hybrid manuals — spoiler alert: they both came from Honda — have ever made it to market. And while Toyota eventually gave in and offered Supra fans a chance to row their own? That came completely out of left field, and modifying an existing BMW transmission and tweaking a center console isn’t exactly reinventing the wheel.
Of course, you have to consider that even if prospective TRD Pro fans get pissed that they can’t get a stick? Where are they going to go? Chevy, Ford, and Nissan have all embraced the auto. And since only around 10% of Tacoma buyers choose the manual, it’s not hard to see the brass at Toyota opting to save money, instead of throwing it at the task of marrying an old-school gearbox to a new-school hybrid mill. Especially since 90% percent of people looking at the truck won’t care.
That said, I think there’s still a chance that base model Tacomas will retain the option for a stick. That’s the strategy Ford went with for the Bronco, and while there was some howling from the enthusiast community at the time? The Blue Oval likely couldn’t hear it over the deafening sound of money rolling into its coffers. But what do you think? Is Toyota going to surprise everyone and make a manual hybrid? Hit me up and let me know!
Photos: Toyota, Ministério do Desenvolvimento