Toyota looks to pick up customers with Tundra

Until now, the Tundra was seven-eighths the size of other full-size trucks.
DETROIT FREE PRESS
DETROIT -- When Elizabeth Devlin started looking for a truck last fall, she wanted something with muscle.
Devlin, a police officer from Pierson, Fla., owns four large dogs and a horse. She needed a roomy cab so the dogs would be comfortable. She needed plenty of towing power to pull the horse trailer with ease.
Devlin went with a Chevy Silverado. The capabilities and underpinnings sealed the deal, she said. Looks were secondary.
"Normally, a truck person is going to use a truck for something," Devlin said. "Truck people look for trucks and different specifications because of what they're going to do."
As Toyota Motor Corp. launches its first true full-size truck this month, the Japan-based automaker will be making a strong push to win customers, such as Devlin, in a market where utility and U.S.-based companies rule.
Numbers matter to truck buyers. Horsepower, torque, towing, transmissions, brakes and fuel economy are closely scrutinized because truck buyers actually depend on these. No truck owner wants to be struggling to pull a trailer uphill.
Not an easy task
Taking market share will not be easy for Toyota, experts say.
Ford Motor Co., General Motors Corp. and the Chrysler Group's Dodge have dominated the market and have broad lineups and loyal customers. Last year, Detroit automakers accounted for 91 percent of the 2.2 million full-size trucks sold in the United States, according to Autodata Corp.
Nissan Motor Co. launched its first full-size truck, the Titan, in 2004 and has barely dented the market. Last year, Nissan sold 72,192 Titans for 3.3 percent of the U.S. full-size truck market.
Toyota has competed for the past decade with a Tundra that was seven-eighths the size of other full-size trucks, leaving it out of consideration for many truck buyers. Sales of the old Tundra hit 124,508 last year, for 5.6 percent of the U.S. full-size truck market.
New Tundra
The 2007 Tundra represents Toyota's first attempt to match Detroit in size and power. The spec sheets and early tests show that Toyota has built a legitimate rival to Ford, GM and Dodge, said Dan Edmunds, director of automotive testing at Edmunds.com.
"They've hit every key point of a full-size truck with this one," said Edmunds, who drove the Tundra before it went on sale this month.
The Tundra's base price of 22,290 is the highest in the full-size market. GM's redesigned 2007 Chevy Silverado and GMC Sierra start at 18,760.
The pricing gets closer in the mid- and high-level trims, Edmunds said. The Tundra has some standard features, such as dual-zone climate control and side-curtain air bags, that are optional on some of the competitors.
Toyota does well in the major performance categories. The Tundra's largest engine, a 5.7-liter V8, is at or near the top in horsepower, torque and towing.
Toyota did not simply enter the market with this truck, Edmunds said. It went after best-in-class bragging rights. "The sheer output of the motor is pretty impressive," Edmunds said.
Toyota has pulled out all the stops for the Tundra launch, the largest marketing rollout ever for one of its vehicles in the United States. Starting with a pair of Super Bowl advertisements, Toyota is approaching the truck market with a straightforward ad campaign that stresses the Tundra's power and performance.
The ads show a Tundra being loaded with bags of dirt, towing a trailer and speeding through the desert before coming to an abrupt stop. An accompanying "Prove It!" tour will take the Tundra to more than 400 sites across the United States for consumer test drives.
Toyota executives have said the new Tundra is intended to capture the "true trucker," someone who uses the full capabilities of the truck.
Weakness
But Toyota has a major weakness as it goes after this customer, said Bob Livingston, vice president and group publisher for Affinity Group Inc., a Ventura, Calif., company that produces Trailer Life Magazine, Motorhome Magazine, Highways Magazine and RV.net.
The Tundra gives Toyota a half-ton truck, the first class in the full-size market. The truck lineups for Ford, GM and Dodge go beyond the half-ton segment with larger, more powerful three-quarter and one-ton trucks. Ford, for example, is launching an F-450 this year that can tow 24,500 pounds, more than double the towing power of anything in the half-ton class.
"If you're looking to tow big trailers, Toyota is not even in the competition," Livingston said.
Ford, GM and Dodge should continue to win the hard-core truckers who tow heavy loads, Livingston said. They also have earned the trust of truck buyers.
"They have great reputations," Livingston said. "I don't think Detroit has neglected the market at all."
Interest
Still, Toyota will start to pop up on the shopping lists of many truck buyers, he said.
"I would say that people who are interested in towing with a half-ton pickup will have to take a look at the Toyota when they're making a decision," Livingston said. "It only makes sense to compare them all."
Devlin, who bought the Silverado last fall, said she thinks Toyota will win truck customers. Toyota's reputation for quality should serve it well in the truck market, she said.
Devlin, though, plans to stick with GM. Her Chevy truck is a crew-cab 1500HD, a version of the previous-generation Silverado that has the capabilities of a three-quarter-ton but with a ride and suspension tuned closer to a half-ton.
The truck is comfortable and drives smoothly, Devlin said. She has plenty of room for her dogs and plenty of power for the trailer. Unless GM disappoints her, she's not going with another brand.
"I don't even feel the trailer back there," Devlin said. "It's so effortless. ... All-around, I love this truck."