Toyota Considering 3/4" Ton Pickup

[Perian]

Link: http://online.wsj.com/article/0,,SB1...oo_hs&ru=yahoo

By NORIHIKO SHIROUZU
Staff Reporter of THE WALL STREET JOURNAL
September 23, 2005 6:12 p.m.

DETROIT -- A senior Toyota Motor Corp. executive confirmed the Japanese auto maker is considering a move to try to crack one of Detroit's last remaining cash-cow markets that have evaded foreign competition: "heavy-duty" pickup trucks aimed at contractors and trailer haulers.

Jim Press, president and chief operating officer of Toyota's American sales unit in Torrance, Calif., said Toyota is "studying" the possibility of adding a super-sized version of the redesigned Toyota Tundra full-size pickup truck slated to grow in size to compete more head-on with Ford Motor Co.'s 3/4" Ton trucks and other offerings from Detroit. He noted, in a recent interview, that the Japanese company may push ahead with the move even as gasoline prices remain firm.

The executive said Toyota is "watching the market" for big trucks and how demand may be affected by rising fuel costs, in an effort to make a final decision on whether to go ahead and develop the Ford Super-Duty truck fighter.

Still, "capacity exists within the resources of our engineering and development" to relatively quickly come up with a heavier duty version of the new Tundra truck Toyota plans to launch in late 2006, he said.

Toyota executives have said in the past that building a bigger version of the Tundra would require the company to add a second assembly line at its still-unfinished San Antonio, Texas, pickup factory that could build as many as 150,000 heavy-duty pickups a year.

Nissan Motor Co. also has said it, too, is interested in the heavy-duty pickup market.

Those considerations by Japan's two biggest auto makers, however, come at a time when consumers in the U.S. are shifting out of big gas guzzlers and embracing smaller, more economical vehicles in part because of high fuel costs.

Mr. Press said Toyota is monitoring those trends closely, but because the segment for big-rig pickup trucks for Toyota is such an "under-served" market that he believes it offers "a lot of potential" for growth for the Japanese auto maker.

In that market, Mr. Press said, "an advantage will go to a manufacturer that can [build trucks] with the best mileage and the best technology."

Article continues at link.

[Perian]

Question: Will the automotive business in the United States five years from now resemble the current state of the airline business in the United States today?

Answer: The way things are going, how can it not.

[mbukukanyau]

Good luck to Toyota.. Domestics are attacking back in the sedan sections, and their trucks will be vastly improved come this time next year.
I am yet to see a better truck than the F150, and next year Chevy comes out with its own...

Chevy trucks and SUV's are as American and natural to the landscape as the American flag... I would hate to see an America not littered with them

[the prix]

Introducing the all new 2008 Toyota Tundra 2500, with the all new hybrid diesel producing an earth shaking 250 ft. lbs. of torque at 5000 rpm and an astounding 50mpg.

To Toyota, good luck. Their going to need it.

[drew770]

I am not afraid of competition!
This just means that GM, Dodge, & Ford need to stay on their toes to make sure Toyota won't find a place with heavy duty.

[mbukukanyau]

Originally Posted by the prix

Introducing the all new 2008 Toyota Tundra 2500, with the all new hybrid diesel producing an earth shaking 250 ft. lbs. of torque at 5000 rpm and an astounding 50mpg.

To Toyota, good luck. Their going to need it.

A 50 MPG truck may be a good thing, but, it will not find buyers..
Have you seen those Ford heavy duty dulleys? Those things are impressive and good..
For Toyota to compete in this field.. they need years like they did with Sedans.. and in this day and age, its do or die.... to win the truck market is not going to be easy,
Look at the new Tahoe's.. Toyota should try deal with that first...
DOD, hybrids coming... 12 Variants on one platform... and that is GM alone.. Ford has how many variants on its F150?
How do you deal with something like Ford & Harley truck?
How do you deal with GMC Denali trucks?
How do you get Basta Rhymes and P-Diddy to show up with a Toyota Duelly on a music video instead of an EXT?
more importantly, how do you get the country music star to bring their band to a Nashville concert in a Tundra.. They would get stoned! shot at even...

Try get Bush to drive a Tundra.. George Bush.. or the FBI to abandon the Suburban for the Sequoia

[Performance]

Look at the bright side, if Toyota makes a 3/4 it will be socially acceptable to drive a big truck again. After all its Toyota (the GREEN company!)

[tgagneguam]

I was thinking how "ungreen" this move by Toyota would be. I'm sure many would excuse it, though.

There's no real reason why Toyota shouldn't make the move in this direction; there's nothing saying it cannot enter the market, though it seems like Detroit is more interested in defending trucks than cars, a market which they essentially handed over to the Japanese without a fight.

This fight might be more interesting with a less clear conclusion.

[TaHoE]

I thought all our Toyota Friends on this board told us that the HD Tundra was already in the works?

[plane]

GM and Ford will turn this market over as well without so much as a whimper.
Toyota will build better quality and reliability, more power, total style, and better gas mileage.
That's exactly why Toyota is already increasing truck capacity in Texas.
GM lost the moxie a long time ago and doesn't have the fire in the belly to get it back.
GM Management and Engineers can do nothing but cower in abject fear of their Toyota counterparts - GM just isn't up to the task anymore.

[awalbert88]

A heavy-duty Tundra is needed to give the 1/2-ton trucks any street cred I think. What makes the Silverado and F-series so popular? You can get them in not just 1/2-ton every day trim, but in hardcore do-anything trim. The 2500 and -250 trucks are very big, very powerful, and very strong. Brute force. Those who need a work truck often look at the Tundra and fail to see a serious competitor.

That said, I don't see Toyota making serious inroads here. They are facing the best competitors in the segment ever. Ford and GM aren't resting anymore. They saw the signs years ago and began making the effort to ensure that future trucks and SUVs would be at least as good as, if not better than, anything that came from Toyota and Nissan. My only concern is when Hyundai decides to make an attempt on this segment, but that's probably a decade away.

[vdoh182]

I'd think Toyota has a much better shot han hyundai at pickups considering they ahve more money, more experience, and have had decently powered BOF occasionally. however i doubt theyll have as many variants as GM or ford and without that volume theyll never get enough value out of their trucks, which is probably the most important feature.

[Cortazzo]

The next tundra is supposedly going to be a serious contender this time around, and ther is a rumor of a big diesel for the half-ton version i believe. I hope against hope that it is a flop, that they can barely run one shift in that new plant, but it still concerns me. Many people, especially on the coasts, will buy anything that has a big Toyota badge on it these days. My marketing prof sprews crap about GM making terrible cars and how he drives a toyota, it makes me sick. I honestly don't know if GM and Ford will be able to reverse the perception gap before it's too late.

[tama z71]

they cant crack this market. they took sedans because detroit gave up on them. the truck market is detroits bread and butter. there is no way they will let it go.

and besides, those who need these type of trucks are going to stick with what works. detroits hd's already have proven reliability and strength. i really see no place for toyota to exploit this segment.

[DirtyMoney]

interesting to say the least