Of course, it’s not cheap and it’s not meant to be a mass market truck. It’s still a relatively niche machine, much like the previous entries in the series. But that should actually play in its favor, according to some critics.
A high price by itself creates an association with luxury and high value, and people are going to pay more attention to this truck whether they realize it or not. Just because it costs more, we expect that some who might have disregarded it as a low-grade model before will actually pay more attention to it now.
Could the new Tacoma actually set some trends for the market in the future? It’s a strange market to begin with, and new trends tend to come from the strangest sources, so it wouldn’t be very surprising.
But it will take more time to convince people that there is a strong merit in trucks designed in a more elegant way, paying more attention to the fine details instead of going for an all-out rugged look. Combining good looks with solid performance might turn out to be the next big trend in this market, and that certainly wouldn’t be a bad development in any way at all.