Brother, ain't that the truth?

Can this be from the same folks that made the Land Cruiser?

Lift kit makers rejoice! People will be beating a path to your door to get ground clearance.

<--Toyota

 

Hey guys. I've got a friend who's grandfather use to work in the R&D dept. at GM. We had him make a few calls to some old contacts and the Chevy Colorado and the Tacoma are going to share a lot of similar things. Similar design and frame. They wouldn't say much than that and nothing about the motor, but they definitely are first cousins. I think it was already mentioned here, but GM and Toyota are sharing a few platforms now so it's not to far a stretch to see that they would get together on the 2 trucks. After having said that I'm sure the Toyota will be much nicer inside and out as if you look say at the Vibe vs. the Matrix, the Toyota looks like it has better styling appointments as well as looking much better.

 

I love when people post, a friend of a friend of a friend knows this, I really doubt the 2 trucks share anything, with Toyota trying to take over the truck market why would the competition that they are tryin to take out help them and why would Toyota give them help, the Vibe and Matrix are identical that we know and I heard other say the Ranger and the Tacoma where the same truck and the 3rd Gen 4Runner and last Gen Explorer where identical when infact they had nothin in common, when the new Tacoma is here we will see my money is on it not being anything like the Colorado except for the general size.

Also Ford broke their contract with Nissan because Nissan was becoming to big of a competitor, I wait to see what the future holds for GM and Toyota

 

Hey, those are the two pictures I was talking about! I'm glad they finally posted them on the net.

I don't know where some of you are coming from but the Tacoma shares the underpinnings with the 4Runner as well as the 4L V6 and chassis (lengthened).

The Colorado doesn't look like the Tacoma to me. They don't share the same stance, wb or any other critical dimensions. It doesn't have the same hardpoints and, imo, the Colorado looks alot cheaper.

I really like it personally. I think it looks better than the Frontier and more expensive.
As for Toyota looking more "Lexus-like" or upscale and not as rugged as Nissan's offerings (Frontier,Xterra) That has ALWAYS been the case! Toyota has always been seen as an upscale truck/suv by the general public. From the 4R and, yes, the Taco too.

 

Toyota will NEVER take over the truck market in the US.
It's all about profit and Toyota is with GM on certain vehicles and if it the Toyota big wheels feel anything shared with GM will work and it makes more of the bottom line-profit--they use some GM parts and ideas.

 

I remember people saying the Japanese will never take over the car market, time and sales will tell all

 

If you are implying that Toyota and GM would share styling ideas, you don't know Toyota or GM. There are general overall industry styling trends, there are regional styling trends (all Japanese, all American, all German, etc) but they would never, ever share designs before production. Thus the reason they all go to the trouble of disguising their pre-pro mules.

Toyota would never, ever, ever share design ideas with anyone outside of Toyota. In fact, Toyota Japan has so much pride in their work they have a hard time accepting ideas from Calty (Toyota USA). There is no way and I mean no way- they would "share" ideas. I cannot stress that enough. Toyota has alot of pride in their products- alot. They do not see themselves as needing outside assistance because they have confidence and strength in their own philosophy.

Toyota is also the #2 maker in the world? Is that right? They are #3 in America now aren't they?
Toyota could easily become the #1 full-size truck and GM/Ford know it, fight it and fear it.
With the brand loyalty in trucks, it would take time but Toyota has destroyed those alliances very quickly in other markets. One only need look at what Lexus did to the luxury car market.

 

You may be correct on the share issue but no way will Toyota ever be #1 in the USA in truck sales.
Cars and trucks are a completely different story.
Toyota will pick up percentage but never be #1 in truck sales.
Too many pickup people are pro American co. made.
Especially in the south,midwest and Texas where most pickups are sold.
Most construction and other businesses nationwide will stay American Co. made.

 

The tacoma has always been a workhorse. I dont know why you think that you need to have a FF rear axle to haul at rated payload. when you start pushing past 2500 pounds then yes, you need it.. Frame flex? Ever look under a 1-ton Ford, chevy or dodge? None of them have boxed frames. Hell, crawl under a semi tractor and tell me what you see. When you are carying a real load in your truck, you dont want a boxed frame. It will crack instead of flex. You know why 1/2 ton trucks are being built with stiffer frame, so that they handle more like cars. Thats what people complained about so the market is changing. The tacoma has always had the highest payload capacity of any other compact or midsize. Its the biggest little workhorse out there, at least it was.

Im with Kyle on this one, im keeping my 1st gen. Im keeping my older trucks period.

 

Well you would have to be blind not see the similar styling cues or maybe your in denial. I love Toyota; I've owned 5 different Toyota's and currently still own a Supra and am looking for a truck so my loyalty is with them all the way. I'm only saying that do you think if they look similar that Toyota and Chevy in a crazy scheme to turn a profit used all lot of the same components between the 2 vehicles. I think you would be naive to not think so. It's already happened on other vehicles. It really only comes down to one thing with any company Jap or American; money and how much they can make. So if sharing components does this you can bet they will.

 

[QUOTE=FirstToy The Matrix/Vibe is a jointly developed product, as was the Prizim/Corolla.
.[/QUOTE]





What jointly developed product?
The Corolla was out a long time before the Prizm and the Prizm was a chevy badged Toyota.No joint developement on the Prizm.Same with the Vibe.

Toyota and Chevy have a relationship.
The bottom line is profit.
If Toyota can make money with GM they'll share their product ideas.
Toyota doesn't lose $$$ by sharing designs etc. with chevy.

You'll notice although the Prizm was a Corolla it didn't sell well.The Vibe doesn't sell as well as the Matrix..
Alot more Colorados will be sold than Tacomas.
Toyota may make some money on each sale if they share design etc with the Colorado.
Making $$$ for Toyota.

 

Before that, Chevy called the Corolla version the Nova. GM owns a lot of Toyota stock. Ford owns at least half of Mazda. Chyrsler and Mitsubishi have the same situation.

 

Good points,Lars.
I forgot about the Nova.

 

Is there anything to back up that Gm actually owns Toyota stock? Or is that just a rumor?

 

i don't think gm owns any of toyota. they used to have a fair amount of isuzu(remember the chevy luv? geo storm? rebadged isuzus), but they put so many restrictions on isuzu that they got sick of it and(supposedly) they'll be free from gm's strangle hold in a year or so. that's why they've always been a smaller company, gm forbade them from advertising many of their vehicles because they sold better than some gm rebadges!

 

What are peoples thoughts on the styling of the new 2005 Frontier? I think it looks ugly, with its strange front fenders. The new Tacoma looks better, even though its styling is derivative and bland. The Colorado looks decent, the Ranger looks old fashioned.

 

personally i think there's no winners this time around. can you even get a frontier in a single cab any more?

i liked the hardbody much better than the frontier...the frontier is too over the top for me.

 

Looks like they're going for the Titan look.
That's really too bad, I kinda liked the way it looked before. I'm not so sure about this one.

 

Someone has to ban the Chevy lovers

 

C'mon Toyota, release some tech and features info on this 2005 truck! And put a $3000 rebate on the 2004 model!