More Power to Warp Drive, Mr. Scott!

Fancy boys, Automotive News reports: Toyota races to match model mix of Tundra to the market.

Three months into the launch of its redesigned Tundra, Toyota is scrambling to revamp its model mix and make a series of other fixes on the run.

Toyota executives admit they have made missteps in their first venture into the full-sized pickup fray.

We were pretty sure Toyota wasn't going to have a smooth ride of this. While they've proven they can build the truck America wants, they themselves aren't totally buying it. How do we know?

"The 5.7 has been 70 to 80 percent of our mix, and we thought it would be 50 or 60 percent," Farley said. "The 4.7 (V-8) and V-6 are not as popular."

Big, big, big. Power, power, power. That's America's truck buyer. Now Toyota might have been sitting back saying, "We know most Americans don't haul and/or tow as much as they think, so we'll offer the truck that will fill their needs rather than their wants." Wrong. You crazy hippies, Americans want big.

On the flip side, the basic two-door model has missed its sales goals, even though it was expected to account for only 10 percent of the mix. Typical basic-truck buyers don't want a lot of extras, even when extras are rolled into the basic sticker price.

Americans are often cheap, too. So, it's either big and bad to the bone or basic shite that makes you go, "Who wants this piece of shite?" We wonder if the regular cab/V-6 will be deliciously priced soon. Maybe a great end of year buy?

For the record, Automotive News is having a free trial week. Check it out, you lugnut!

Comments

[The Car Geek]

The 5.7L comprises 70 to 80 percent of Tundra sales? Not good for Detroit's trucks. If this trend continues, perception will start to change, and when Tundra is mentioned, people will think "big power, big torque, big towing, great nerf bars". This is also not good because Toyota is selling a lot of it's higher end Tundras, equipped with the 5.7L. This means higher profits.

For more info about this post check out:
http://www.truckaccessorywholesale.com/specials/nerf_bar.html