Toyota Tundra production begins
Last Friday the first two Tundra pickups rolled off the line at Toyota's new production facility in San Antonio, Texas. The facility, called Toyota Motor Manufacturing, Texas, took three years to build and cost $1.28 billion. At full capacity it can pump out 200,000 Tundras a year, a rate at which Toyota hopes the plant will be operating sometime next year. The facility also houses 21 suppliers who produce components for the Tundra on-site. Toyota's president Katsuaki Watanabe and Texas Governor Rick Perry were on hand to witness the ceremony that marks Toyota's entry into the North American auto industry's biggest market.
With a capacity of only 200,000 units per year, it's not likely the Tundra will put a huge dent in the sales of its main competitors, the Ford F-150 and Chevy Silverado/GMC Sierra, both of which sell more than three to four times that many units in a year. Still, the arrival of a competitive full-size truck from Toyota, the current can't-miss automaker, is a big deal, and it's no coincidence this manufacturing facility was built right in the heart of Texas truck country.
Check out more pics of the facility's inner workings after the jump.
[Source: Toyota]
PHOTO GALLERY:
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Guenther 2:23PM (11/22/2006)
Just waiting for real specs and pricing now...
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Chris 2:16PM (11/22/2006)
The Japanese can't make a truck worth a damn to save their lives. What makes them think that Americans will buy it, even if it's made in Texas?
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Guenther 2:28PM (11/22/2006)
Wow,
Chris has obviously never driven a Toyota, let alone owned one... or looked at sales numbers for mid-size trucks for that matter.
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Chris 2:44PM (11/22/2006)
#3 Nothing would compel me to drive their substandard, rattletrap crap. Their sales numbers may be good for light-duty, small toy trucks that were dumped on Americans by those currency-manipulating midgets. America needs the utility of a full-sized truck, not these fraudulent, derived-from-Camry-but-on-a-ladder-frame, so-called "trucks".
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alan 2:46PM (11/22/2006)
It will be interesting to see how much demand for these trucks are... 200,000 isn't a HUGE number for a full-size truck, but for Toyota's real first shot at it, it will be. Will they make it?
Nice blue color...
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nist 2:49PM (11/22/2006)
lmao. Chris. The new 5.7L V8 in that Toyota is a bigger engine than any 2007 domestic half-ton (Silverado, F-150, and Ram 1500) and offers more horsepower (381), torque (400+), towing capacity (10,000lbs +), and probably warranty, reliability, and initial quality as well.
Chris, Americans aren't as dumb as you would like to believe.
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Quiksilver 2:51PM (11/22/2006)
Chris, I used to have the same opinion as you did about Toyota pickups, but when I drove a Tacoma compared to a Colorado, the Tacoma was pretty impressive... and the interior is a step up. So at least Toyota is trying... but GM is now as well for competitive reasons and Ford probably will in a few years.
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Chris 3:03PM (11/22/2006)
#7 Toyota might be trying, but all of their vaunted specimens have rusted out long ago, whilst their superior American counterparts can be found toiling away today as strongly as when they were new... several decades ago. The domestics make trucks that last, the Japanese polish turds that look pretty (though I can't say that is even true of the Turdra), but fall short in utility.
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nist 3:11PM (11/22/2006)
oh c'mon Chris, will you not even give Toyota a CHANCE to impress you?
Are you afraid to test drive the new 07 Tundra? Or do you just have an intense prejudice against "currency manipulating midgets"?
On a side note, what I am mad about is the outsourcing of the Fusion assembly to Mexico down south. Can you believe that? Smelly, wetbacks are making the Fusion. Sickening. And the pussy ass French-Canadians are going to make the new Camaro. The world is coming to an end.
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Carlos 3:14PM (11/22/2006)
**#3 Nothing would compel me to drive their substandard, rattletrap crap.**
ahahaha...that's the funniest thing i've ever heard. An American automaker company being implied as superiior to Toyota...now I've heard everything :P
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nist 3:13PM (11/22/2006)
I retract the last paragraph in the above comment in case you people and the Autoblog staff feels that I am like Michael Richards....a bad, baaaaaad man.
Oh yeah, and I am not a racist.
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katie 3:19PM (11/22/2006)
chris is what we call white trash in a bubble.
they lead ignorant lives and can never be changed or taught the truth.
too bad they drink their moonshine all the time and multiply with their cousins.
the world could use less of them.
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Steve 3:23PM (11/22/2006)
Chris I can't help but think that you're joking. You're correct that in the large F250 and up size trucks that Japan has yet to even step onto the playing field. Yet.
But head to head the only thing keeping the americans so far in front is brand loyalty. In the midsized range The Nissan Frontier and Toyota Tacoma are literally in a league of their own. The full size Tundras and even the Titans blow away the comparable American trucks in almost every catagory except heritage. But that will develop as time goes by.
Oh and yes Ive driven them all at one time or another as part of my job(s). the companies I have worked for have all had fleet trucks to drive. When all was said and done I used my own money to purchase a Titan.
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nist 3:29PM (11/22/2006)
notice how Chris uses lots of name calling, racism, and sweeping generalizations. But not once did he mention any FACTS to back up his pompous statements.
Has he personally owned any Jap trucks and experienced what he felt was "substandard, rattletrap"? What credential does he have for making those statements? Is he an editor for a truck magazine? Is he a truck engineer?
Or has he just been taught that all "midegts" are "substandard, rattletrap" his whole life by his redneck friends and family?
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Bill Maher is an Idiot 3:43PM (11/22/2006)
I think Toyota needs to abort this fetus before it's born on the market.
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cxu 2:43PM (11/23/2006)
"The Japanese can't make a truck worth a damn to save their lives"...the people making the truck look pretty much like white American workers to me...
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Ed 3:35PM (11/22/2006)
Stop feeding the troll! :-P
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Mark 3:39PM (11/22/2006)
Chris
I have driven Chevy’s, Dodges, and Fords. I consider myself a "FORD MAN" as I was driving a Ford f-150 until I traded it for a Ford Expedition. My wife on the other hand drove a Pontiac Bonneville SSEI until she traded it for a 2006 Toyota Tundra that can out pull my old F-150 and Expedition .I have already been to the dealership to talk to them about preordering one. I was just like you, thinking to myself "how could they build a better truck", I have proof, Toyota has it together
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Richard Warren 4:24PM (11/22/2006)
Americans, working on vehicles, Japanese standing off to the sidelines. Hmmm, reminds me of a great line from the movie Bridge on the River Kwai; Be happy in your work! While the Japanese workers at home have a union, those in America can't. Yep, be happy in your work!
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Jackson 3:47PM (11/22/2006)
2008 Ford Super Duty- 24,000 pounds
2007 Toyota Tundra- 10,000 pounds
And don't forget the Boss (aka the Hurricane) is back in 2008, so Toyota and their i-Force better enjoy the calm before the storm.
Now get back to making excuses...
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