Comparisons to previous model's features, durability and sales are inevitable, and flawed. The biggest, and only driver for production and changes of vehicles are customers. Customer "wants and needs" change over time and that is driven by many external factors. Vehicles have to change too to keep up with customer trends.

You used an "if then" statement above and I quote: "If the 4Runner today was competing against the same amount of other truck-based mid-size SUVs from 10 years ago, logic tells us that it's market share would be lower, which obviously means fewer sales." This statement would only be true if all conditions were the same 10 years ago as today. Most customers today want something different than they wanted 10 years ago. 10 years ago they wanted BOF SUVs. Today most want CUVs, as evidenced by sales. If you want to compare something you have to compare all influencing factors and not cherry pick the data. This is not politics lol.

I wonder sometimes if Toyota feels that it is worth keeping the niche type of customer that would actually buy a 5th gen 4Runner this day in age, if you look at the age demographic of this forum Toyota may feel as if the 5th Gen buyer will stick with Toyota for future purchases. There really isn't anything like the 5th gen on the market right now.

The previous gen highlander and 4Runner had a greater gap in size than they do now. The previous gen Highlander was a more feminine looking vehicle compared to the new one. When the Rav4 up sized, it siphoned off many of the Highlander sales and the upsized, baby Land Cruiser looking highlander siphoned off 4Runner sales. Highlander sales have stayed relatively steady despite moving up in size and cost from gen 1 to gen 2.

Either way, 1engineer is right. Comparing sales from 05 isn't entirely possible to 10. Economic situations are entirely different and we saw the rise of the CUV in that time. A lot of people buying real SUVs back in the 00s were buying with different conditions; not necessarily because they wanted a RWD biased, bof offroader. Mall rated is a term that came along because people were using their SUVs as soccer mom mobiles. Considering the complete lack of incentives on the 5th gen says Toyota is selling as many 4Runners as they planned for the 5th gen.

I'd venture to say that image and ride sells more JGCs than off road capability does. Hell, how many wranglers are driven by people that have no intention to go off road; they want a masculine convertible. (I'm in no way saying that wrangler drivers don't go off road)

I think Toyota has done a pretty good job supplying product for customers in the market for a SUV / CUV.

I also know several people that have moved from a 4th Gen 4Runner to a new Highlander because it matched their needs better than a Truck based SUV. That doesn't mean the 4Runner is somehow inferior now.

I also know my new TE knocks the socks off of my 4th Gen. I can't wait to drive around at lunch, ha!

No excuses. I posted the numbers. Times change. People change. Vehicles change. You can't compare past to present without comparing everything, even though you make a valiant attempt. Quintin is right.

One could say the same about 4th gen owners who hang out in the 5th gen forum complaining about no burger trays and LED tail lights on the 5th gen that is preventing them from "wanting" to upgrade rather than a means of convincing themselves that their older version is superior in every way. ;)

I hope 50,000 units is worth keeping....maybe so if you leverage the platform around the world and various body styles and congress doesn't get stupid with vehicle standards which require expensive modifications for US bound models. The strong yen / weak dollar may be a contributing factor to the sales numbers. We're a small segment, a majority of people want the Highlander type family mobile. The Wrangler Unlimited may be the direct competition for the 4Runner buyers.

Here is a chart of Jeeps sales through June 2012. You would have to double the year to date total to get the full year. Scroll down to the bottom for the chart. Chrysler Group LLC Reports June 2012 U.S. Sales Increased 20 Percent; Best June Sales in Five Years | FinancialContent Business Page
Grand Cherokee sales are typicaly 2-3 times 4runner sales and Wrangler are higher than that.

I think there's plenty of data re: the demise of BOF SUVs - gas prices; CUVs offering more space, more comfort, and better on-road handling (all on a generally smaller foot print); consumer attitudes towards the environment; etc. Further, there are plenty of victims - see a BOF Explorer anymore? What just happened with the Pathfinder? Where's Isuzu after they double-downed on SUVs? What about the Montero?

Shall we assert that homes built in 2006 were far more attractive and better built than homes in 2009 simply because sales of homes in 2009 plunged? Or should you maybe consider the variables surrounding the decline?

I think the only thing that's rubbing folks here is your assertion (by comparing 2003-2005 sales to 2010-2012 in a category that has seen its market share shrink dramatically) that had a 4th gen come out in 2010 it'd have somehow eclipsed a 5th gen in sales.

Nonsense without context.

As I said before, no excuses. They are what they are. Not too many people want or need BOF part time lever operated SUV 4X4's anymore. Too many other choices that better fit their lifestyles. They are not indicative of the 4Runner being better or worse than previous generations. Times change and demands change. I simply posted three years of 5th gen 4Runner sales numbers to compare year to year of 5th gen sales in the 5th gen forum to be read by 5th gen owners. Which model of 5th gen do you drive?

*EDIT* I see you drive a 4th gen. My bad.

No, not at all. Good luck.

I like chocolate.

I never take too much stock in a sentence prefaced with “Lets be honest here”. However, will say, there is zero correlation between butt-hurt and 4Runner sales. Again, nonsense.
Apparently it does enough to you. You keep posting it doesn’t matter, but yet the 5th Gen should have better sales. Again, nonsense.
Have I introduced you to JohnnyT? He’ll tell you the 4th gen is, and then spell out period – even after ending the sentence with one. That’s also nonsense, but he has personality – and like Samuel Jackson says, personality goes a long ways.

So who are you? Hmmm, let me guess. A poster who has been banned is a given but maybe just an existing one with a new account? Your posts will tell the tale. We shall see. Anyone with a troll icon?