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New Toyota Tacoma, Ranger, Colorado/Canyon fight for midsize truck dominance

Sam Wedll has been driving his Toyota Tacoma pickup on the rugged roads of Northern California for seven trouble-free years, racking up almost 100,000 miles, so he’s interested in the redesigned version of the truck coming later this year. He paid $34,000 for his truck in 2016, loading it with plenty of options. HeÂ’s eyeing the new gas-electric hybrid Toyota Motor Corp. is going to offer, but Wedll, who does his own repairs, isnÂ’t interested in paying luxury prices. “The hybrid is pretty interesting to me because I like the idea of the fuel efficiency,” says Wedll, 47, a casino operations manager in Blue Lake, California. “IÂ’m just trying to save some costs wherever possible.” The Tacoma, known as the Taco to its legions of loyalists, is the leader of the pack in midsize pickups, one of the fastest-growing auto markets of the past decade. With outdoorsy weekend warriors and do-it-yourselfers looking for a truck that could fit in their garage, sales of midsize pickups more than doubled from 2010 to 2020. General Motors Co. and Ford Motor Co., which abandoned the market segment when sales slowed early this century, returned with new trucks to take on the Tacoma, which has dominated the medium truck market for almost two decades. Although it's easy to predict that the most lushly appointed versions of the new Taco could approach $50,000 (prices wonÂ’t be announced until later this year), Toyota insists it isnÂ’t backing away from budget buyers even as it rolls out fancier trucks. The current Tacoma starts at $28,030, and the company says affordability is critical to its success. In fact, Toyota will continue to offer the Taco with an old-school stick shift. The Tacoma controls 42% of the midsize truck market and outsells FordÂ’s offering 4 to 1. ThatÂ’s a role reversal from the full-size pickup market, where FordÂ’s F-Series has ruled the road for 46 years. Tacoma sales in the U.S. surpassed 237,000 last year, more than twice the number of GMÂ’s No. 2-ranked Chevrolet Colorado, according to consultant LMC Automotive. But as growth in the overall segment slows, the midsize market is developing into more of a turf war, with manufacturers vying for the sweetest highest-margin spots. “This segment is likely past its prime growth spurt,” says Jeff Schuster, president of the Americas for LMC Automotive.

2025 GMC Terrain is redesigned with bolder style and big tech

The 2025 GMC Terrain is here, and it’s following in the footsteps of its Chevrolet Equinox cousin but bringing the traditional GMC twist to the party. Its fresh design is noticeable straight away with a new front end inspired by the GMC Canyon. The front hood is substantially higher than before giving it a more muscular look, and the same bulking is evident in its emphasized fenders. An optional painted roof gives it some flash – itÂ’s painted gray for black cars (pictured above) and black in every other case. Bigger wheels up to 20 inches in diameter are available on the Denali. And speaking of trims, there are now just three: Elevation, AT4 and Denali. For 2025, the Elevation is the only model that will be on sale. GMC says both the AT4 and Denali models will follow later for model year 2026, and you can see a preview of those in the group photo below. They each have their own grille designs, wheel options and unique styling cues. As youÂ’d expect from the AT4, it also features an off-road-tuned suspension, small lift (by 12 mm) all-terrain tires, underbody skid plates, recovery hooks and a special “terrain” drive mode. The Denali has its own pluses like “Smart Frequency Dampers” for a better ride, tons more standard luxury equipment and the 20-inch wheels. What is common across all trims is the powertrain. Every next-gen Terrain will be equipped with a 1.5-liter turbocharged four-cylinder paired with an eight-speed automatic transmission. ThatÂ’s the same powertrain as the new Equinox, and while GM has indicated it will move to more hybrid options, thereÂ’s no word on if the Terrain would be a candidate for that strategy. The 2025 model will be all-wheel drive exclusively, but GMC tells us youÂ’ll be able to select a front-drive version come the 2026 model year. If you want to tow, though, youÂ’ll need the AWD version that maxes out at 1,500 pounds. The 2025 TerrainÂ’s interior gets a massive overhaul thatÂ’ll remind you of other new GMC products with its tall portrait-oriented touchscreen. ThereÂ’s the 15-inch screen in the center thatÂ’s accompanied by an 11-inch digital cluster, of which both are standard equipment. It runs Android Automotive software that nets you Google Maps as the native navigation system and the Google Assistant for voice queries. Both wireless Apple CarPlay/Android Auto remain onboard, though, as GM promised would be the case for its gas-powered vehicles.

Chevrolet considering midsize crossover to slot between Traverse and Equinox

Crossovers are the new hotness, and automakers are looking to cash in by offering a size and shape for every customer. With Chevrolet's debut of the new 2018 Traverse in Detroit, which grew ever so slightly compared to the first-generation model, there is now a midsize-crossover-sized hole between the three-row Traverse and the compact Equinox. When asked about that obvious space, a Chevrolet spokesperson told us the company is looking into the possibility of expanding its crossover lineup. It should be a relatively simple thing to do, since all it would take is reskinning and rechristening the GMC Acadia with a bow tie, and we all know how much GM loves platform sharing. Although they're now different sizes, the new Acadia and Traverse still use the same platform; the Acadia is now on a short-wheelbase version of the C1XX while the Traverse uses long-wheelbase C1XX parts. A short-wheelbase Chevy built on the C1XX likely would be differentiated visually from both the Acadia and the larger Traverse. It may seem like flooding the lineup with more and more models would cannibalize sales of existing ones, but Chevrolet said it would rather have customers stay within the brand rather than going to another automaker. There have been whispers that some form of the Blazer name (possibly TrailBlazer) may make a return on a midsizer, but if it does don't expect an old-school body-on-frame SUV like the old one. In the end, if Chevy builds it, customers will come. Related Video: