Tundra Misses Target Sales

With the launch of much bigger Tundra, analysts in the auto industry predicted the pickup with pose huge threat to FoMoCo’s F-Series, the Dearborn-based automaker’s bread and butter vehicle.

Wikipedia has this to say: “A much larger Tundra was introduced at the 2006 Chicago Auto Show. It had lifted cues of its smaller brother the Toyota Tacoma along with some cues from the Toyota FTX concept truck. The truck had many enhancements, such as a towing capacity of up to 10,000+ lbs, a payload capacity of over 2000 lb, and a new 6-speed automatic transmission. The second generation Tundra has 3 engines available. A new 5.7 liter V8 that produces 381 horsepower and 401 pound feet of torque, a 4.7 liter V8 is rated at 271 horsepower and 313 pound feet of torque, and 4.0 liter V6 is rated at 236 horsepower and 266 pound feet of torque.”

Although it successfully unseated the Ford to become the nation's second-highest selling automaker in 2007, Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. couldn't move as many Tundras as it had hoped in the redesigned truck's inaugural year, said Houston Chronicle.

"Toyota has come to the market at the exact wrong moment for large trucks." said Aaron Bragman, a Troy, Mich.-based analyst for Global Insight.

Toyota said it sold 196,555 Tundras last year. The figure is 3,445 fewer than it had forecast. With gasoline and oil prices hovering near record levels, housing starts down and consumer confidence zapped, said the report.

"Like the rest of the industry, the full-size pickup segment saw its fair share of challenges in 2007," said Bob Carter, vice president and general manager of the Toyota brand for Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A.

Ford, manufacturer of the best-selling pickup the F-150, said its 2007 truck sales dropped 5%. General Motors Corp.’s truck sales, meanwhile, dived 4%.