Filed under: Car Buying, Trucks/Pickups, Toyota
Toyota needs big December to reach 200k Tundra sales
Toyota is selling a heap more Tundra trucks this year than it did last year. It's simply not selling enough -- maybe -- to reach its goal of selling 200,000 units this year, the first year the all-new bigger and badder Tundra has been on sale. As of the end of November, the big T had rolled 177,336 Tundras off dealer lots (no mention of whether or not any of those included the old model), which represents a 58.3-percent jump in sales over last year's numbers.
But the segment overall has taken an 8-percent plunge in the tide of recent economic developments, and November Tundra sales were down almost 17-percent from October: 14,988, compared to October's 17,868. For Toyota to reach its goal, it has to move more than 22,000 Tundras in December. This means it has to post a sales increase of more than 50% in a market looking more and more like... a barren tundra. If it's really serious about making that goal, some of you out there should be licking your chops: there's money on the hoods.
Bob Carter, Toyota Division general manager said, "We use incentives tactically to offer reasons to buy Toyotas at certain times of the month." You know the reason, and this is the month. Current model year 2007 Tundras get interest-free financing for five years, while 2008 models will get interest-free financing for three. Come 'n' git it.
[Source: Auto News]
Reader Comments (Page 1 of 3)
Speddy 11:07AM (12/10/2007)
Unless it was free, you couldn't give me any incentive to own THAT ugly interior.
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WetheSheeple 7:28PM (12/10/2007)
AMEN!!
Avinash machado 11:12AM (12/10/2007)
I would buy one if they gave me one at a token price of $1 and a free Silverado with it.
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DarkKnight67 11:13AM (12/10/2007)
Maybe the public is smarter than we give them credit for ... they realize that there is more wrong with the Turd than what's seen by the naked eye.
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Yar 11:25AM (12/10/2007)
The public only needs to see one thing to know the tundra isn't worth its salt: It only has 5 lug bolts on each hub.
sw 12:12PM (12/10/2007)
And racecars that put out tonnes more hp and torque just have one. There are bad things about this truck, but that particular one just doesn't make sense to me.
Yar 12:52PM (12/10/2007)
Yes, exactly. Since, of course, race cars weigh 5400lbs and regularly tow 10,000lb trailers around the race track. The more bolts you have in the hub the more stress it can take, and that stress comes from stopping/moving hefty objects. There's a reason why race cars have anywhere from 5 (NASCAR) to just 1 (F1) lug nut(s) while Big Rigs have 10. All the advanced engine designs, superior transmissions, heavy duty brakes, and beefy differentials wont make a difference in the world if your wheel breaks off when you're towing your boat out of the water. (Not that it has happened to the Tundra yet, but it's certainly less likely to happen to it's competitors).
Guenther 6:45PM (12/10/2007)
5 lugs- like Dodges and Fords, right?
5 lug bolts on a hub-centric rim is PLENTY for a half-ton truck.
AZMike 11:26AM (12/10/2007)
Toyota might have a little more luck moving these if they learned to equip them the way buyers want them, or would allow dealers to actually order exactly what they wanted, like domestic dealers do.
instead, Toyota builds the trucks the way Toyota wants them, and then shoves them down the dealers' throats.
case(s) in point:
I went to a very large Toyota dealer here in the Phoenix area last week to see what I had been missing. turns out, not much.
they had a dark gray long-bed regular cab work truck. this truck was equipped as follows, with the following FACTORY (not dealer, or distributor) installed options:
-4.7 litre V-8
-carpeted floor mats (bear in mind that this truck had a rubber floor, not carpeted)
-stainless door sill plates (just what you'd want on a work truck)
-automatic dimming inside mirror (another work truck "must")
-and last but not least, a $1,000 TRD factory-installed dual exhaust system!
dark colors on work trucks are a hard sell just about anywhere, but are near-impossible here in Arizona.
the exhaust system was another baffler, as you can get a really nice custom exhaust system installed just about anywhere for about $350; and this is not something that one would choose for a work truck.
they must have been hoping for a miracle, because they had NINE MORE with absolutely identical equipment..same color, everything.
the strangest thing to me is that this is not rocket science. they had three companies to follow, who had been building trucks for, oh, a hundred years or so, and you'd think they'd just copy them, as this is what the Japanese do best.
instead, they mistakenly decided that truck buyers could be pigeonholed just like a Camry buyer, and it didn't work.
AZMike
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Travis 1:21PM (12/10/2007)
are you *sure* that wasn't what the dealer ordered? instead of this being Toyota's decision, far more often I see the dealer orders them that way so that they make more than their normal $1200 markup (or whatever) on the vehicle. if you saw 9 more exactly the same way, then it's the dealer that's ordering them in that specific configuration. dealers don't make much on a stock vehicle (comparatively), so they load them up to pad their own bottom line.
AZMike 1:47PM (12/10/2007)
Travis,
the "Toyota Production System" doesn't allow dealers to actually order vehicles for stock.
the factory builds what it wants to, and fills up the storage lots. then, the reps call the dealers to let them know what's coming. the dealers might have a choice of color, but that's about it. if the dealer is not in Toyota's good graces, they might not even get that choice; instead, they will get their monthly allocation of all the vehicles that are not good sellers, like ten of last year's Land Cruisers.
almost all the Japanese companies, whether they build vehicles here or not, do business the same way. build 'em, fill the storage lots, and then stuff 'em.
of course, this sounds a lot like the much-reviled Chrysler sales bank of 2006, doesn't it?.
as always, if done by a domestic company=bad; done by a import company=smart, well-thought decision!
dealers are pretty good at knowing what to order for their particular area; they know what sells, and what doesn't. however, when the factory is making all the decisions, all that logic goes out the window.
this was readily apparent during the 2007 model year, when Toyota didn't build enough low-end trucks. this is truly a mystery, as all they needed to do was follow the leaders, GM, Ford, and Dodge. just look at their percentages of which models were sold, and duplicate that. instead, they decided to go for the higher-profit upscale models, and they weren't wanted.
AZMike
MoonRover 11:31AM (12/10/2007)
They may do it, in my area they are offering $12,000 off the sticker price, but for me it's still not worth it. The longer that design stays around the more it will stink, like a big old dead tuna,...........the front sort of looks like a big old fish, don't you think.
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PassingAlong 11:32AM (12/10/2007)
Toyota Motors sales are rising as we write these comments. As informed (and as justifiably negative) as our opinions are about their problemed vehicles, Toyota is a money-making machine that possesses a brand image that will dominate its competitors for years to come.
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Richard Warren 11:46AM (12/10/2007)
"If it's really serious about making that goal, some of you out there should be licking your chops: there's money on the hoods"
But----based on years of Autoblog postings that's just a horrible thing to do. Diminishes value hurts resale, blah, blah, blah, however if it's Toyota it's just fine.
Laughable.
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Otto Ingineer 12:00PM (12/10/2007)
Was the 2007 Tundra actually selling in January 2007? I thought that it started sales in mid-late February (so a few more months to hit their goal of 200k/year). That is basing a year on 12 months of sales, not just the calendar change.
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Eric Y 12:07PM (12/10/2007)
You are correct about the sale dates. The new Tundra didn't start shipping to dealers until Feb. 5th. So it's not been on sale for a full year anyway.
sheth 12:23PM (12/10/2007)
yes but that 177k figure includes the old model as well. The new model hasnt sold 177k units. Even if you look at Feb to Feb figures it probably wont equal 200k units. And that has been achieved with huge (for Toyota) incentives. when has Toyota ever needed huge incentives on a brand new and supposedly best in class vehicle in the past? Never. The truck market isnt as easy to crack as the car market and they are figuring that out. furthermore competition is increasing in areas where Toyota had dominated thus far, midsize sedans and crossovers. The edge has been outselling the established Highlander for the last few months. 2 years ago the Pilot was the only competition the Highlander had to worry about. Not any more.
Rob 12:24PM (12/10/2007)
I dont think this news suprises anyone. When it launched I said it would sell about 200,000 but never be able to reach 300,000 as they hoped (remember after this year Toyota was hoping to move 300,000 of these per year). If they could not sell their goal in the 1st year, they will not sell 200,000 in 2008. Its no longer an all new truck. The 'got to have it' factor greatly diminishes after the 1st year. Even with a full year of sales in 2008 they will struggle to sell 200,000. As gas prices remain high people will continue to look away from trucks/suvs for transportation.
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Tricky dicky 12:30PM (12/10/2007)
What kills me in the article is Mr ass hurt from toyota talks about "detriot style" incentives.
Incentives are needed to sell obese vehicles these days, and the clowns at toyota wanted to step in the ring. What did he expect?
The green halo is looking great especially with the similarly obese and hideous sequoia getting shat out of the toyota war machine lol..
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Timothy Auhll 12:34PM (12/10/2007)
No diesel no deal
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