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Subscribe to this threadToyota slowing production of Tundra, Sequoia
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sw @ Mar 14th 2008 9:49AM
I cannot for the life of me understand that they can make a world class truck like the Tacoma and then completely drop the ball on the Tundra.
ToyotaNationMyAss @ Mar 14th 2008 10:02AM
Please...the only reason the Taco sold well is because Ford and GM did not try to make a midsized or smaller truck and it easily won those comparisons. What the heck does Toyota know about full sized work trucks that Ford and GM have not know for the last 50 years.
sw @ Mar 14th 2008 10:41AM
Your userid makes me think you're quite biased in the issue so you won't even consider my argument, but here it goes anyways. I don't know the sales numbers but from the what I see on the roads it seems like the canyon and dakota are taking a beating from Tacoma's (I consider the ranger to be an entirely different class of truck). What I do know is that a Tacoma will take much more punishment than the comparable trucks from the big 2 and it's been proven by my experience, numerous off road forums and numerous truck reviewers, unless of course they're all wrong and you're right.
Frylock350 @ Mar 14th 2008 11:01AM
I think it has to do with their history. Tacoma benefits from the experience of building the Hilux abroad. Tundra was Toyota's attempt to build a Dodge Ram (they got the fuel thirst and garbage interior right!) and they couldn't have done it at a worse time. Building a small/midsize pickup intended for offroad abuse and such (Tacoma and Hilux) is much different than building a full-size pickup built for hauling, stability, and comfort. Toyota completely misinterpreted what Americans buy these things for. Tundra seems like it was built for the truck buyer who lives in the suburb and wants it for the novelty. Toyota missed on the interior, engine, transmission, frame and differential. Styling is subjective so I won't comment (if you like the Ram you should like the Tundra too, they look very similar). The previous gen Tundra has a more reliable drivetrain, much better interior, better frame, etc. It was a superior truck in all aspects. Given the current market trend towards smaller vehicles, they should have stuck with the old Tundra and developed an efficient V8 for it to compete with the 5.3L GM trucks. I think Toyota realizes that they aren't going to be cracking this market anytime soon. Casual buyers of truck (these are Tundra's customers) aren't going to be buying trucks anymore and the loyal truck buyers barely consider Dodge a competitor, much less Toyota.
As for comparing to the domestics, the Colorado isn't as nice at Tacoma but its a better offroader (when properly equipped) and with the 5.3L V8 instead of the I5 will have a more reliable drivetrain. Dakota is practically full-sized, its bigger than Tacoma and actually pretty much the size of the 2006 Tundra.
MikeW @ Mar 14th 2008 1:46PM
There isn't anything wrong with GM's I4 & I5 engines. They could REALLY use variable intake valve timing.
http://media.gm.com/division/powertrain/press_kits/vortec_dynocam/index.html
The problem is the obsolete 4 speed automatic.
GM should have launched the canyon/colorado with the 5L40 ('04,'05,'06), and should have upgraded to the 6L45 ('07,'08,'09) by now.
Maybe for '09 Toyota will couple the 8 speed automatic to the 5.7 V8, and hand me down the 6 speed automatic to the 4.0V6 and 4.7V8.
Any chance Nissan will get that 7 speed automatic into the Titan/Frontier ASAP, more than likely.
Frank @ Mar 14th 2008 4:25PM
"and the loyal truck buyers barely consider Dodge a competitor, much less Toyota."
Yea, that's right, us loyal truck buyers don't consider Dodge a competitor, all 350,000 to 400,000 a year of us. Do you have any other examples of your lack of knowledge of the truck market?
Dave @ Mar 15th 2008 9:01AM
The Tacoma is a descent truck no doubt, but I would rather support an American company and buy something not quit so good such as a Colorado which needs a few fixes (mostly the front end appearance) to make it standout. From what I have read they say the Colorado with its optional Eaton rearend is a better choice for off-roading than the Tacoma.
As far as the Tundra that truck in my opinion is a ways a way to being the leader in the full size class. The looks alone are a big draw back.
That One Person @ Mar 15th 2008 4:46PM
SW...ToyotaNation has a point.
I am a huge Ranger fan. And I do like the Colorado. The Dakota is the Taco's only true competitor (and I happen to think the Dakota, in ways, is the better truck).
But when it comes to mid-size trucks, the Taco may be the best...even though I don't think highly of Toyota. But there are areas where Toyota totally dropped the ball on the Taco. Towing with them is far from great. And the brakes suck.