The Toyota Tacoma is the last pickup to offer a manual transmission in America. The gearbox had a 2 percent take rate in 2024, up from 1.4 percent in 2023. The new 4Runner uses the Tacoma's same platform, but lacks the manual gearbox option. Not because a stick shift can't be installed, but because nobody wants one in the SUV, according to Toyota.
A spokesperson revealed the reasoning to Car and Driver during the 4Runner's international launch. While there's no manual 4Runner in the cards, Toyota did tell the publication that a manual-equipped 4Runner “could be possible.”
A ray of hope for purists? Not quite. While the two Toyotas are mechanically similar, it's unlikely the automaker will rush to add a stick shift option to the new 4Runner if customers aren’t demanding one.
Even though the automaker still offers a manual in the Tacoma, the 2 percent take rate would account for about 3,850 trucks sold last year. Meanwhile, two percent of 4Runner sales last year, which saw production winding down ahead of the launch of the 2025 model, would equate to about 1,840 vehicles.
Considering that only two SUVs offer manual transmissions today—the Ford Bronco and Jeep Wrangler—Toyota’s decision to build the new 4Runner without one is likely the correct call. Toyota hasn’t offered the 4Runner with a manual transmission since 2000, and customers haven’t missed it. Not that we wouldn't like to see it return, of course.
Source: Car and Driver
