Freep: Tundra isn't a knockout

[Arizona Slim]

MARK PHELAN: Toyota rolls out beefier mega-truck

But Tundra isn't a knockout

February 10, 2006

CHICAGO --To the amazement of many, Toyota failed to reinvent the pickup truck Thursday. The 2007 Tundra -- the biggest and most powerful pickup Toyota has ever built -- has all the features and capabilities to be a formidable new competitor for warhorses like the Ford F-150, Chevrolet Silverado and Dodge Ram when it goes on sale early next year.

The company's U.S. sales boss dubbed Tundra's debut at the Chicago Auto Show as "the most important product announcement we've ever had." But it revealed no revolutionary new features that would redefine what consumers expect in a big pickup.

"It's not the breakthrough I expected," said George Peterson, president of AutoPacific, an industry consulting company based in Tustin, Calif. "It'll be a good seller for Toyota, but it doesn't change the landscape."

Instead of a breathtaking new idea -- like the under-bed trunk the Honda Ridgeline wowed buyers with last year -- the Tundra will hit the road with the same virtues that have made Toyota the most formidable automaker in the world -- "the time-tested quality and durability of Toyota," company U.S. sales chief Jim Press said.

That will certainly win it buyers, said Rebecca Lindland, an auto industry expert for Global Insight, a Lexington, Mass., consulting company. But it's likely not enough to lure owners away from Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge, which dominate full-size pickup sales.

Toyota says it expects the Tundra to keep some of its current owners from moving to those brands, however.

It did not reveal specific price, power or payload figures for the Tundra, but top models of the new truck will feature a 5.7-liter V8, six-speed automatic transmission. The Tundra's key dimensions are very similar to corresponding models from Chevrolet, Ford and Dodge.

Toyota expects to sell about 200,000 of the new Tundras during the pickup's first full year on the market and around 300,000 annually once production gets up to speed at the Princeton, Ind., and San Antonio plants that will build it.

That compares with about 100,000 sales a year of the old, smaller Tundra and a record of just over 126,000 in 2005.

"The incremental sales will come from people who want a pickup for the weekend," Lindland said. "I don't think the hard-core pickup buyer is going to abandon Ford, Chevy and Dodge."

However, the traditional Detroit carmakers have a much bigger problem with young buyers who grew up with Toyotas and have no allegiance to the F-150, Silverado or Ram.

"That sound you hear is Toyota eating Detroit's lunch with Generation Y," she said.

Toyota started developing the new Tundra seven years ago with the painstaking approach that has made many of its vehicles benchmarks for other automakers.

Toyota has tried to crack the full-size pickup market for more than a decade with little success, and Nissan didn't even dent the Big Three's sales when it introduced its Titan pickup.

The size, power and specifications for the new Tundra were set in 2002, and executives signed off on the aggressive and unique design in January 2005.

Continued... http://www.freep.com/apps/pbcs.dll/a...=2006602100423

[megan]

Toyota has to go a long way to beat GM and Ford. Their trucks are very good. 200,000 additional sales from the big 3 and Ford and GM still sell almost 1 million pickups each. That's only 70,00 from each.

[01cavalier]

Well, not exactly singing the praises of Toyota. I figure this will mainly be sold to those that are mainly loyal to Toyota...has no appeal to me.

[chotton]

Originally Posted by megan

Toyota has to go a long way to beat GM and Ford. Their trucks are very good. 200,000 additional sales from the big 3 and Ford and GM still sell almost 1 million pickups each. That's only 70,00 from each.

But the big three can't afford to loose these sales. Especially from their bread and butter product.

[VibenPontiac]

However, the traditional Detroit carmakers have a much bigger problem with young buyers who grew up with Toyotas and have no allegiance to the F-150, Silverado or Ram.

"That sound you hear is Toyota eating Detroit's lunch with Generation Y," she said.

This is what worries me - short term I don't think the Big 3 have a huge problem, but long term when the die hard folks who grew up with 'em go away they will. It won't happen overnight but slowly but surely Toyota will gain a increasingly bigger slice of the pie. The Big 3 will still be the leaders but not by the margin they are now.

[Hudson]

Are full-sized pickup buyers really looking for something radical? Aren't full-sized pickup buyers, on the whole, just as conservative as family sedan buyers? Why would Toyota come out with some radical, earth-shaking product in a market where status quo is the norm? I think it looks like Toyota's doing just fine in this segment.

[smk4565]

The Japanese trucks don't have torque, the Big three all do. The Tundra/Titan also don't offer as many variations like bed length, manual/automatic, 4 door, extended, and engine choices. 3 Engines in the Tundra is pretty good, but the Titan has 1. Also people in "America's Heartland" love American products. And buying a Japanese pickup is sort of like buying a Hyundia luxury car. The Big Three trucks are better and will still outsell everything.

[Arizona Slim]

Originally Posted by Hudson

Are full-sized pickup buyers really looking for something radical? Aren't full-sized pickup buyers, on the whole, just as conservative as family sedan buyers? Why would Toyota come out with some radical, earth-shaking product in a market where status quo is the norm? I think it looks like Toyota's doing just fine in this segment.

I don't think most pickup buyers want anything too edgy looking (Exhibit A: Nissan Titan). Toyota had it right with the styling of the current Tundra (before the newer grille), they just needed to beef up the size and the powertrain to play with the big boys. That's my take anyway, I think they should have played it more conservatively. Looks like now they're mainly competing with Nissan.

[CarShark]

Originally Posted by Hudson

Are full-sized pickup buyers really looking for something radical? Aren't full-sized pickup buyers, on the whole, just as conservative as family sedan buyers? Why would Toyota come out with some radical, earth-shaking product in a market where status quo is the norm? I think it looks like Toyota's doing just fine in this segment.

Especially after seeing Honda swinging and missing (foul tipping at best) with the "innovative" Ridgeline.

[Arizona Slim]

Over on AH-HA's blog, he had this to say while discussing the new Tundra:

Having already seen the new Silverado and Sierra, I can say that they are also a great leap forward and are an even greater threat to Ford. Both models feature the same level of refinement seen in this new Tundra and offer an even wider array of configurations than today’s models.

Let's hope he's right.

[SUPERBADD75]

i kind of thought Toyota would have something more innovative too, and instead it's just another truck. the more i look at it, the more its looks grow on me, and i may end up liking the styling before it's all said and done, but GM and Ford still offer buyers more configurations, and their trucks have huge followings. i'd almost go so far as to say that even if there are some GM fans that are disappointed with the GMT-900 trucks, they'd sooner go to Ford than to Toyota. i don't think GM and Ford are out of the woods, because the Toyota is now more competitive than it's ever been, but it's not going to threaten for the top spot in sales. i don't see it coming close to even Dodge's sales numbers. it definitely doesn't redefine trucks as we know them, but Toyota's full size truck is finally a true full size.

[Hotspur]

GM and Ford need to battle Toyota, not each other, even in the truck market. Simplistic as it may be, "American" cars and trucks... ALL American cars and trucks need to be viewed as better than those from Japan.

It may seem odd, but as GM's products improve it helps Ford, and visa versa.

[darndot]

I am a full-size pickup driver, and my wife is a SUV driver. I kind of like the ridgeline trunk not truck. I wouldn't want the spare tire back there if I was haul stuff (Which I don't haul stuff daily). If I was toyota, I would not have built something that looked like a dodge.

I think Toyota will put a dent in the four door market. I don't think that people who haul stuff are going to go out a buy a toyota.

My problem with the toyota is that it hasn't been big enough. They have always been smaller than 1/2 ton trucks, or felt smaller on the inside. If they have actually built a real 1/2 ton the big three maybe in trouble.

[jbartley]

I like how Toyota doesn't release ANY FIGURES, waiting for GM to announce the Silverado/Sierra numbers before they do.. hahha

[Nelson Kyle K]

:p Take that Toyota Chevrolet is going to kick your a** .

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