The Volkswagen Taro 1 tonne

pickup truck A pickup truck or pickup is a light-duty truck that has an enclosed cabin, and a back end made up of a cargo bed that is enclosed by three low walls with no roof (this cargo bed back end sometimes consists of a tailgate and removable covering) ...

was introduced in January 1989 by

Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (VWCV; german: Volkswagen Nutzfahrzeuge , abbreviated ''VWN'' ) is a German marque of light commercial vehicles, owned by Volkswagen Group. It is headquartered in Hannover, Lower Saxony, Germany. Originally part ...

to complement the half tonne Caddy pickup / panel van ranges, and the 1 tonne Transporter van and chassis cab ranges. The name " tarō" is a suffix used in Japanese to denote the oldest brother or son, or the first-born son of a family. The Taro was a project of

badge engineering In the automotive industry, rebadging is a form of market segmentation used by automobile manufacturers around the world. To allow for product differentiation without designing or engineering a new model or brand (at high cost or risk), a ma ...

. The Taro was a rebadged fifth generation Toyota Hilux, which was fully engineered and designed by

Toyota is a Japanese multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Toyota City, Aichi, Japan. It was founded by Kiichiro Toyoda and incorporated on . Toyota is one of the largest automobile manufacturers in the world, producing about 10 ...

. The two companies came together in an effort to solve each other's problems: *

Volkswagen Group Volkswagen AG (), known internationally as the Volkswagen Group, is a German multinational automotive manufacturer headquartered in Wolfsburg, Lower Saxony, Germany. The company designs, manufactures and distributes passenger and commercia ...

at the time did not have a one-tonne pickup truck. *Toyota wanted a bigger European market share of the one-tonne utility market.

History

In the late 1980s, Volkswagen Group and Toyota signed an agreement that Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles would assemble the

Toyota Hilux The , stylized as HiLux and historically as Hi-Lux, is a series of pickup trucks produced and marketed by the Japanese automobile manufacturer Toyota. The majority of these vehicles are sold as pickup truck or cab chassis variants, although th ...

at its VWCV factory in Hanover, Germany, and it would be sold under the Volkswagen Taro moniker. The first Taros manufactured in

Hanover Hanover (; german: Hannover ; nds, Hannober) is the capital and largest city of the German state of Lower Saxony. Its 535,932 (2021) inhabitants make it the 13th-largest city in Germany as well as the fourth-largest city in Northern Germany ...

, Germany, from 1989-1994 had a 2.4-litre diesel engine with , torque was at 2,400 rpm, with loading space of and a

payload Payload is the object or the entity which is being carried by an aircraft or launch vehicle. Sometimes payload also refers to the carrying capacity of an aircraft or launch vehicle, usually measured in terms of weight. Depending on the nature of ...

. The Hanover plant only built the Taro with two-wheel drive and a regular cab, although the "Volkswagen Taro" name was used for other versions imported from Japan in some European markets. In September 1994 at the IAA Nutfahrzeuge (Commercial Vehicle Fair) in Hanover, Germany, Volkswagen released the

four-wheel drive Four-wheel drive, also called 4×4 ("four by four") or 4WD, refers to a two-axled vehicle drivetrain capable of providing torque to all of its wheels simultaneously. It may be full-time or on-demand, and is typically linked via a transfer ca ...

version of the Taro which had an extended cabin. The 4x4 Extended Cab Taro was manufactured in Toyota's

Tahara plant The is an automobile plant in Tahara, Aichi, Japan owned by Toyota Motor Corporation. The address is 3-1 Midorigahama, Tahara City , Aichi Prefecture. History It was opened in January 1979. It is the most computerized and robotized automotive pl ...

in Japan, but now the Taro had an updated 2.4-litre diesel engine which produced at 4,000 rpm and torque of at 2,400 rpm. The 4x4 Taro had a loading space and payload, but could tow without brakes, and with brakes. The

joint venture A joint venture (JV) is a business entity created by two or more parties, generally characterized by shared ownership, shared returns and risks, and shared governance. Companies typically pursue joint ventures for one of four reasons: to acces ...

ended in 1997, due to sales failing to meet either car

marque A brand is a name, term, design, symbol or any other feature that distinguishes one seller's good or service from those of other sellers. Brands are used in business, marketing, and advertising for recognition and, importantly, to create an ...

's expectations.

Specifications

;engine ID code, displacement,

configuration Configuration or configurations may refer to: Computing * Computer configuration or system configuration * Configuration file, a software file used to configure the initial settings for a computer program * Configurator, also known as choice bo ...

and rated power output

ETKA ETKA is the official electronic parts catalogue for Volkswagen Group motor vehicles. Launched in 1989, ETKA superseded the older parts books and microfilm-based catalogues. ETKA is an abbreviation from the german: Elektronischer Teilekatalog. It ...

: 2Y: 1.8-litre

inline four A straight-four engine (also called an inline-four) is a four-cylinder piston engine where cylinders are arranged in a line along a common crankshaft. The vast majority of automotive four-cylinder engines use a straight-four layout (with the e ...

OHV An overhead valve (OHV) engine, sometimes called a ''pushrod engine'', is a piston engine whose valves are located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier flathead engines, where the valves were located be ...

petrol engine with

carburettor A carburetor (also spelled carburettor) is a device used by an internal combustion engine to control and mix air and fuel entering the engine. The primary method of adding fuel to the intake air is through the venturi tube in the main meterin ...

, at 4,000 rpm : 4Y: 2.2-litre inline four OHV petrol engine with carburettor, : 2L: 2.4-litre inline four indirect injection

SOHC An overhead camshaft (OHC) engine is a piston engine where the camshaft is located in the cylinder head above the combustion chamber. This contrasts with earlier overhead valve engines (OHV), where the camshaft is located below the combustion cha ...

diesel engine The diesel engine, named after Rudolf Diesel, is an internal combustion engine in which ignition of the fuel is caused by the elevated temperature of the air in the cylinder due to mechanical compression; thus, the diesel engine is a so-cal ...

, at 4,000 rpm, at 2,400 rpm :

22R The Toyota R family was a series of inline-four gasoline automobile engines. Designed for longitudinal placement in such vehicles as the Celica and Hilux and in production from 1953 through 1997, usage faded out as many of Toyota's mainstream ...

: 2.4-litre inline four SOHC petrol engine with Bosch L-Jetronic injection, ;driveline: 4x2 = RWD, 4x4 = 4WD ;loading area (m²): (4x2) 3.1m² (4x4) 2.9m² ;track width - front: (4x2) , (4x4) ;track width - rear: (4x2) , (4x4) ;

turning circle The turning diameter of a vehicle is the minimum diameter (or "width") of available space required for that vehicle to make a circular turn (i.e. U-turn). The term thus refers to a theoretical minimal circle in which for example an aeroplane, a g ...

: (4x2) , (4x4) ;permissible total weight:(4x2) , (4x4) ;payload:(4x2) , (4x4) ;trailer weight braked:(4x2) , (4x4) ;trailer weight unbraked: ;maximum speed km/h:(4x2) , (4x4) ;acceleration - 0-: (4x2) 15.0 secs, (4x4) 17.0 secs ;fuel consumption: (4x2) , (4x4) Specifications Source

Successor

division sells the Volkswagen Amarok pick-up, which competes against the Nissan Navara and

. The Amarok is available in single and double cab versions, as well as the option of 2WD or 4WD and high torque diesels.

References

External links

Volkswagen-Commercial-Vehicles.com
- official international portal
{{Volkswagen Commercial Vehicles (Europe) timeline

Taro Taro () (''Colocasia esculenta)'' is a root vegetable. It is the most widely cultivated species of several plants in the family Araceae that are used as vegetables for their corms, leaves, and petioles. Taro corms are a food staple in Afri ...

Pickup trucks Rear-wheel-drive vehicles All-wheel-drive vehicles Cars introduced in 1989 1990s cars