Production years: 1989–1997 In the late 1980s Volkswagen and Toyota signed a cooperation agreement under which the Toyota Hilux was built as the VW Taro at Volkswagen's Hanover plant. At that time European carmakers had no pickups with a payload of about 1 tonne in their range, and Toyota was keen to increase its share of the European van market. The VW Taro was built with rear-wheel and four-wheel drive, with three cab lengths and with petrol and diesel engines. The cooperation ended in early 1997 because of low sales. VW returned to the pickup market only in 2010, when it launched the VW Amarok, entirely of its own design.