If you visited the 2023 New York Auto Show and felt bummed about some of the decisions the exhibiting automakers took, no worries, you are not the only ones.
Our colleagues, for example, feel mainly cheated by the Bavarians over at BMW as the bland and boring NY Auto Show booth dropped the ball at the event after years of leading the charge in a much more positive way. Hey, even the newly released 738-hp XM Label Red was absent from the party because it will soon get to shine at Auto Shanghai instead.
At least, BMW could have brought to our attention the subtly introduced XM 50e base version. But no, that was also a no-show, and the booth only relied on an XM-iX-i7 trio! Another potential letdown is also Toyota, despite the presence of the great 2024 Grand Highlander that touched down in New York like a true 'ultimate family SUV.' This is probably because ardent Japanese vehicle fans were waiting for a different model to feature its official presentation – the best-selling mid-size Tacoma pickup truck.
Indeed, the company is gearing up to introduce the fourth iteration, and it kicked off the traditional marketing campaign with a fresh teaser series at the end of March. Eager aficionados soon hoped the mini-Tundra vibes would soon get revealed in full, but that was not the case, even as a sneaky second 2024 Tacoma teaser hinted at something going on for April 4, just before the start of the NY Auto Show.
Alas, that was smoke without a bonfire, and instead, we only got another detailed feature. Luckily, at least it confirmed that the next-gen 2024 Tacoma TRD Pro would feature the mighty i-Force Max hybridized powertrain that is also available under the hood of the 2023 Tundra full-size truck sibling, complete with 437 electrified ponies on tap.
Nowadays, it feels like every moment can bring out yet another 'Taco' teaser, and even fan forums joined the hype to release into the wild some leaked teaser images that just added to the mystery and made everyone question if the presentation is coming any time soon or the Toyota marketing folks are just willingly torturing us with more postponements.
Well, it certainly feels like they are on billable hours, as now there is a new teaser depicting an unsurprising new addition to the 2024 Tacoma family – the all-new, first-ever Trailhunter trim level, which may or may not come on top of the TRD Pro but is undoubtedly focused on overlanding adventurers more than anything else. Naturally, that attracted everyone's attention, including across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators.
So, it was only natural for the good folks over at the AutoYa info channel on YouTube to try and imagine the CGI looks of the upcoming 2024 Tacoma, complete with (some) Trailhunter goodies. Unfortunately, their resident pixel master did not have enough time to present the entire pickup truck, so we are left longing for more after we check out the hypothetical and highly unofficial first digital depiction of the 2024 Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter.
Oh, well, it seems like everyone is playing a game of patience with pickup truck fans these days, from the Blue Oval head honchos who are not releasing the all-new T6.2 Ford Ranger Raptor in America to the Toyota headmasters who are trying to prolong the wait until someone snaps, apparently!
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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