Toyota president confirms Tundra diesel shelved
Toyota has apparently seen the light and given up the idea of competing head on with the Detroit 3 for big truck supremacy. Toyota America president Jim Lentz told Automotive News that his company no longer plans to challenge for the top spot in the segment. With the market shrinking fast, Toyota's share has been dropping even faster. Tundra sales were down 60.7 percent in September compared to only a 3.9 percent drop at Chevrolet. Ford, which is preparing to launch the F-150 in the coming weeks saw sales of the old model drop 41.6 percent while Dodge Ram sales were 30.6 percent off. Toyota has already decided to consolidate full size truck production from two factories to one and Lentz also confirmed reports that the diesel engine for the Tundra that was announced last January has been shelved. With volumes down so much, adding another engine to the mix at this point doesn't make sense for Toyota.
[Source: Automotive News - sub. req'd]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
meridion 1:08PM (10/07/2008)
yeah, right "Toyota has apparently seen the light" you mean, Toyota has had it's arm twisted behind it's back then told by the big 3 and/or big oil/gov't. You do not sell diesel trucks in our town (country). You sell you awesome diesel trucks (eg: Hilux) somewheres else, we got our consumers just the way we likes 'em under our thumb.
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rick 3:06PM (10/08/2008)
Toyota put a poorly engineered truck on the road. The flexing frame, horrible gas mileage, camshafts snaping right and left.....Totally understandable why the bottom dropped out. When you can get a better built truck and better fuel economy from an American company, why would you send your money to Japan?
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Chad 1:56PM (10/10/2008)
What do you mean send your money to japan? Toyota is the most american made outfit out there. More than Ford, Chevy, or Dodge. Do a little research!
rignerd 5:17PM (10/17/2008)
Hey Rick, Maybe you need to get out and look around a little. My Tundra Crewmax gets 19.7 MPG and will go 0-60 in less than 7 seconds. It also has 30K miles with nothing but scheduled maintenance. I think the men and women in Illinois make great cars and trucks and I am happy to send my money across the (Texas) border to support them. I have always driven trucks from the big three starting with a 1958 Apache Fleetside and ending with a 2002 excursion. The Toyota is the equal of any half ton on the market in engineering and execution. The extremely small number of people who had a camshaft problem have new engines at no cost and very little trouble. Ask the 6.0 powerstroke owners what their experience was with the injectors was like. The ones I know have sworn they will never buy another Ford, and many will never buy another domestic.
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Rick 2:24PM (11/11/2008)
Too bad Toyota is shelving the Diesel Tundra..After owning 3 Chevys and 2 Fords..it became apparent that the American Auto makers were not building cars to run reliably and when they did break..they would do every weasely trick to blame it on you...with the 4 Toyotas I have owned..it has been routine maintenence and NO breakdowns...amazing...seems like we could learn a thing or two
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