Tundra Investing Big in New Tundra Pickup

Toyota is betting big with Tundra.

The second-generation, full-size pickup truck goes on sale next month at Toyota's 1,200 dealers nationwide with an eye on capturing a bigger slice of the full-size pickup truck market. The United States is by far the world's largest market for full-size pickups. Ford's F-150 full-size pickup has been the number one selling vehicle in the U.S. for three decades.

The first-generation Tundra was introduced in the 2000 model year replacing the comparatively diminutive Japan-built T-100 pickup. With the 2000 model year, Tundra assembly took place at a then-new production plant in the southern Indiana town of Princeton. The second-generation Tundra will also be built in Princeton, and at an all-new San Antonio Texas assembly plant. The all-new Tundra began rolling off the San Antonio assembly line last November.

This all-new second-generation 2007 Tundra, designed and engineered in the Unites States, is larger in every dimension than the first-generation offering. Shoppers can mix and match from 31 model configurations comprising three cab styles, three bed lengths, three engines, three trim levels and the choice of 4 x 2 or 4 x 4 drive trains. The first public display of the 2007 Tundra design was at the 2006 Chicago Auto Show, where Toyota officials promised this all-new half-ton pickup would begin arriving to dealers in exactly one year.

At a get together in Charlotte North Carolina in December, Ernest Bastien, vice president of Toyota's vehicle operations group, noted, "Since the full-size pickup market is the single largest opportunity for Toyota's future growth in the U.S., the 2007 Tundra will be the single biggest and most important product launch in the company's 50- year history in North America."

The three cab styles include a two-door regular cab, a double cab edition with four forward-hinged doors replacing first- generation Tundra models with side access doors and an all-new four-door Tundra CrewMax sporting more interior space than the double cab. Toyota estimates most sales (55 percent) will come from the double cab with the all-new CrewMax (with sliding and reclining rear seats) delivering 35 percent with regular cabs rounding out the remaining 10 percent. All cab sizes come with seat side and side curtain airbags standard, one of the first full-sized pickup trucks offering this feature.

Two-door regular cabs and four-door double cabs come with the choice of a six-and-a-half foot cargo bed or an eight-foot bed while the CrewMax has a standard five-and-a-half-foot bed. Cargo bed width measures 66.4 inches wide wall to wall.

Two of the three engines are carry overs from the first generation including a 4.0-liter V-6 (with 236 horsepower and 266 pound-feet for torque) and a 4.7 liter V-8 (sporting 271 horses and 266 pound-feet of torque.) Aside from these two engines and their respective transmissions, this second-generation Tundra shares virtually no parts with the first-generation version or parts from Toyota's compact Tacoma pickup.

Tundra's new, most powerful engine is now a 5.7-liter iForce V-8 with dual variable valve timing generating 381 horsepower and 401 pound-feet of torque mated to a new six-speed automatic transmission. Towing capacity with this engine with optional towing package ranges from 10,100 pounds to 10,800 pounds depending on the configuration. All three engines are available in all three body styles so if you desire the 5.7-liter iForce V-8 in a regular cab, that's doable.

All three engines utilize regular 87-octane unleaded fuel.

None of the engines feature displacement on demand, a fuel- saving technology used in some larger General Motors and Dodge pickups that systematically shut down half the cylinders when traveling at highway speeds to conserve fuel. Toyota is confident its current engines possess enough fuel-saving technology with their current design.

Toyota also spent time developing a notable front-end, a staple of key U.S. competitors such as the Dodge Ram, Ford F-150 and Chevrolet Silverado. Tundra utilizes a bold trapezoidal split grill with Toyota's centered, circular logo flanked by narrow, band-like headlight housing. Tundra's tailgate is internally damped so it won't mistakenly come crashing down, rather, it gently lands to its fold down open position. Strap-like door handles are designed to be opened even when drivers and passengers are wearing oversized gloves. Eighteen-inch wheels are standard in all grades with 20- inch versions optional.

Toyota estimates selling 200,000 Tundra (or about 10 percent of the U.S. truck market) in the 2007 calendar year which would be up significantly from the approximately 120,000 units sold in 2006. The new Toyota Tundra will be sold in the United States, Canada, Mexico and Puerto Rico at launch. Pricing and fuel economy information will be announced this week at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

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