Toyota Confirms Manual Transmission for 2024 Tacoma

Toyota continues to tease the upcoming Taco, this time sharing that the truck will get a stick shift.

2024 Toyota Tacoma manual transmission confirmed

written by Chase Bierenkoven^{Contributor
Chase Bierenkoven has been writing about cars in his head since he was a child. Now, he does it for real, covering automotive news and producing reviews for outlets like Edmunds, Forbes Wheels and CarBuzz. Chase's career as an automotive journalist began in 2020, and he has already written scores of road tests. Some favorites of Chase's include the Dodge Challenger 392, Mazda Miata, Kia EV6 and Bentley Bentayga. Outside his work with cars, Chase is often found justifying his latest broken German sports car to anyone that will listen or enjoying the outdoor spaces of his native Colorado.}
5/2/2023
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Toyota confirms the a three-pedal gearbox for the 2024 Tacoma.
Toyota shared the news with a single image showing the truck's three pedals.
Newly minted CEO Koji Sato affirms Toyota's commitment to performance-oriented models.

Toyota has confirmed that the upcoming 2024 Tacoma will keep its manual transmission. The brand recently teased the latest-generation Tacoma with a single image — one that shows three pedals for the new Tacoma. Details, predictably, are scarce. “Legends are more than automatic; they always come in clutch. The all-new 2024 Toyota Tacoma, available with a six-speed manual transmission,” says Toyota.

The only real detail here other than confirmation of the new truck’s transmission is the number of forward gears. Toyota also said to “stay tuned for more.” A release date for the Tacoma has not been specified yet. The transmission will likely be derived from the last one offered in the current Tacoma. Toyota could also include a low-speed crawler gear as Ford has done with the Bronco’s manual.

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2024 Toyota Tacoma Trailhunter teaser exterior detail

In related news, Toyota has a new CEO. Koji Sato has replaced longstanding CEO Akio Toyoda as head of the brand, with Toyoda stepping down to a role as chairman. Famously, Toyoda pushed the company to develop its sporty Gazoo Racing (GR) brand both on and off the racetrack. Now, with his new role, Sato has hinted that the ex-CEO will have more in store for its performance brands, including Toyota Racing Development (TRD) and GR.

Toyota has already teased an off-road-focused version of the Tacoma, which it is calling the Trailhunter. It isn’t difficult to imagine that the manual transmission will feature prominently in the brand’s most enthusiast-oriented trims of the new Tacoma, which is also rumored to have a hybrid powertrain. For now, information on the new truck is hard to come by, but the truck’s debut isn't far away.

Edmunds says

Obviously, we think that news of a three-pedal Tacoma is fantastic. However, Toyota needs to make the stick worth it for the money to work. We'd love to see a crawler gear in the new Tacoma, even as an optional extra. Other off-roaders in this space offer it, like the Bronco, and Toyota's manual will need at least this to stay competitive with stick offerings from other brands — no matter how limited those offerings may be.

by Chase Bierenkoven

Chase Bierenkoven has been writing about cars in his head since he was a child. Now, he does it for real, covering automotive news and producing reviews for outlets like Edmunds, Forbes Wheels and CarBuzz. Chase's career as an automotive journalist began in 2020, and he has already written scores of road tests. Some favorites of Chase's include the Dodge Challenger 392, Mazda Miata, Kia EV6 and Bentley Bentayga. Outside his work with cars, Chase is often found justifying his latest broken German sports car to anyone that will listen or enjoying the outdoor spaces of his native Colorado.