Toyota Tundra:
But analysts say Texas-made truck’s design ‘underwhelming’
Find out what experts think of the Texas-made truck’s new look.
CHICAGO – Toyota failed to surprise analysts with its redesigned Tundra full-size pickup, debuted Thursday at the Chicago Auto Show.
“It’s kind of underwhelming,” said Bill Visnic, senior editor of car-information site Edmunds.com.
But with five versions, including two new premium editions, Visnic said the 2014 Tundra could help the Japanese automaker appeal to the socalled lifestyle buyers who have yet to return in large numbers to the high-end truck market.
“I’msure that’s one of (Toyota’s) goals,” he said. “But I just think that lifestyle buyer will be slow to come back— if it ever comes back— in significant numbers.”
The analyst noted: “It just goes to show how hard it is to
move customers off their preferred brand.”
The manufacturer produces all of its Tundras at its assembly plant on San Antonio’s South Side.
At the auto show, Toyota showcased the truck’s tougher, squaredoff look, with a bold grille and more aerodynamic exterior. It also features a more comfortable interior and a long list of practical and luxury features, such as a blind spot monitor and a standard backup camera.
The manufacturer didn’t announce the price, but said the new Tundra should arrive in dealerships this September, with production starting in August.
When Toyota last revamped its full-size pickup six years ago, the company trumpeted it as a game-changer that would cut into Detroit’s dominance of the U.S. truck market. But the Tundra’s annual market share never topped 9 percent, in part because of the economic recession that hurt all automakers— but especially truck makers.
Still, the Tundra has made some gains against its competitors recently.
Last year, Toyota sold 23 percent more of the pickup compared to 2011, leading the other large truck manufacturers. Chrysler, with its Ram pickups, came in second with a 17 percent yearover-year sales increase.
At 101,621 units sold, the Tundra only captured 6.1 percent of the large pickupmarket in 2012, and Toyota doesn’t expect to increase that share.
“We’re very comfortable with what our volume is in that segment,” JimLentz, Toyota’s U.S. sales chief, said last month.
Analysts had predicted Toyota would keep pace with rivals’ drive for improved fuel efficiency. But a Toyota executive said the new Tundra probably would have the same fuel tank capacity, at 26.4 gallons, and the same gas mileage as the current Tundra, which is about 18 to 20 miles per gallon on the highway.
GeneralMotors, meanwhile, is offering more powerful and efficient motors with its new Chevy and GMC full-size pickups, which go on sale in the spring. And at last month’s Detroit auto show, Ford gave a sneak preview of a new F-Series truck— due out next year— that the company says will weigh far less, resulting in improved fuel economy.
Bill Fay, group vice president and general manager of the Toyota brand, acknowledged the full-size truck market has some of the highest levels of customer loyalty— a hurdle to relative newcomers looking to snatch up market share.
But “in today’s market, some are taking the opportunity to change brands,” he said. “We’ve also seen more segment switching as people switch from SUVs and cars to the unique capabilities and increasing comfort of full-size pickups.”
Fay also noted truck sales have started rising as the economy recovers from the Great Recession, with total sales reaching 1.2 million last year. He expects that number to grow to 1.8million by 2015.
Greater profits will accompany those sales increases, contributing to the Big Three’s zealous defense of their pickup truck turf. Big pickups make up nearly 30 percent of Ford’s U.S. sales and almost a quarter of GM’s.
With high price tags and lots of features, companies make $5,000 to $10,000 per truck, said Jeff Schuster, senior vice president of forecasting for LMC Automotive, an industry consulting firm.
He said Toyota won’t be able to take sales from Chrysler, Ford and GM.
“They’ll be a part of the recovery,” Schuster said. But “I don’t see them capturing any share from the Detroit guys.”