I absolutely have heard of this from other manufacturers. And it makes sense from a business perspective, for the same reason you can’t order a la carte like you once could. Not saying that Toyota has or will do this, but it certainly is a practice.
You don’t think Toyota has considered this and made, likely the correct, assumption that here would be MTs sitting unsold on the lot.
To quote Navin Johnson, “It’s a profit deal!”
This.
I’m pretty sure 3/4 and 1 tons are rarely cross-shopped with LC here in Texas. Just because someone spends upwards of $70k on pickup, doesn’t mean they’ll do the same for an LC…or a Porsche 911.