It was definitely a choice. I understand that they probably wanted to break up the "monotony" on the body or make the tacoma seem like a "Tundra Lite" but it's still weird.
There's no denying that the 4G Taco looks pretty awesome. I personally don't think Toyota hit a grand slam in its design. If you could change anything (or a number of things) about the exterior, what would it be? For me, it's the weird "tear drop" faux vent under the head lamp. They could have...