The Reason Why Toyota Won't Build A New Manual Transmission 2025 4Runner
Hardly had the dust settled on the 2025 4Runner reveal, and certain quarters of the internet were already declaring Toyota's new SUV a disaster. Not for the absence of a V6 (much less a V8, which Toyota abandoned with the previous-generation 4Runner), but for its transmission. Though the old 4Runner hadn't been offered with a manual option since 2000, that didn't stop some fans from hoping the sixth-generation would bring it back.
Instead, Toyota is only offering a single transmission, and it'll change its old gears. While the eight-speed automatic has been widely praised — by myself included, in my review of the latest 2024 Tacoma — the omission of a manual option left stick-shift fans fuming.
Toyota
You can, in a way, understand the frustration. The 4Runner is based on the same platform as the Tacoma, and Toyota does offer a six-speed manual on the pickup. With a similar off-road focus, then, why not provide the same for the new 4Runner, even if buyers of it would be in the minority?
It all comes down to sales, and that's complicated
The answer, it turns out, is both complicated and very simple. Like you'd probably expect, sales expectations play a big part. Any variant Toyota might want to build, it has to know there'll be buyers interested: manual 4Runner fans may be vocal, but it's unclear how numerous they are, at least in terms of that translating to the sort of sales figures required to actually make such a version cost-effective.
From speaking to Toyota product planners after the 4Runner's big unveil, meanwhile, the truth is that what's possible from an engineering standpoint can still run afoul of logistical issues, too. The 2024 Tacoma is currently built at the automaker's plant in Guanajuato, Mexico, whereas the 4Runner will be built in Tahara, Japan.
That Japanese location doesn't currently produce any manual vehicles, meaning Toyota would either have to upgrade the plant to facilitate that, or ship partially-finished 4Runner units over to the U.S. to complete the manual build elsewhere.
For now, Toyota is only talking about the 2025 4Runner
The cost of either of those approaches — either upgrading a factory, or shipping cars for completion — only increases the number that Toyota would need to sell to make a stick shift 4Runner financially feasible. Toyota wouldn't give me an estimate on just how many buyers it would need to find to make that math work out, with product planners refusing to discuss anything beyond the initial, model year 2025 SUVs.
So, for now, the 4Runner is automatic only, though that may be no bad thing. While we're yet to drive the new SUV, its Tacoma underpinnings, familiar engines, and Toyota's bevy of off-road assistance tech should make roaming into the wild easy — perhaps even too easy for those wanting to feel maximum involvement. Outside of that small cohort, though, a rugged SUV that's easier to drive, regardless of conditions, seems like it should be popular.
Meanwhile, though Toyota may be coy when it comes to speculation, it's not like there's no hope whatsoever. As we saw with the Supra, a manual option can arrive in a mid-cycle update, though then Toyota did have BMW to help amortize some of that investment. For now, if manual 4Runner enthusiasts really do want their next SUV to be a stick-shift, patience (and persuading dealers that they really are going to buy one) is the key.