Click above for high-res gallery of the 2007 Toyota Tundra Limited
As of today, production of the Tundra full-size pickup is split between Toyota's facility in Princeton, Indiana, and the automaker's brand new San Antonio plant in Texas. According to a Wall Street Journal report, Toyota is considering moving all production of the Tundra to just the Texas plant. Just over two weeks ago, Toyota announced it was slowing production on the Tundra (and Sequoia) due to lagging sales. The move to consolidate all Tundra manufacturing in one location may be seen as a sign Toyota only expects to sell 200,000 full-size units or less this year, as that number represents the production capacity of the Texas facility. You may remember that Toyota boldly claimed it would sell 200,000 units of the Tundra in 2007, the newly redesigned truck's first year of sales. It missed that target, but not by much with 196,555 units sold. Toyota hasn't officially commented on the rumor yet, but we'll let you know when it breaks the silence.
UPDATE: Toyota has issued a statement saying it is not moving all Tundra production to San Antonio.
[Source: PickupTruck.com]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 1)
tbss_in_the_D @ Apr 3rd 2008 12:47PM
I wonder what they will do with the old plant? Just make the Sequoia?
mike @ Apr 3rd 2008 12:53PM
Cut all but one shift, or idle it altogether.
With gas where it is it would probably pay off to slow down the production of Tank based SUVs.
Corey W. @ Apr 3rd 2008 2:48PM
Wow, that would be scary if Toyota is already at the point where it has to idle a U.S. plant. Hopefully something maybe non-truck can be built at the plant.
Dave @ Apr 4th 2008 9:27AM
They have three plants making this truck. I wonder why they didn't mention its Tijuana, Mexico plant. I guess they want the perception of only being built in America but almost everyone uses Mexico now.
lad @ Apr 3rd 2008 1:46PM
Ever notice how many white pick ups are in Texas? I say they are moving production to the right place especially if they can find a white paint suppler near by and can hire some on the illegal immigrants for peanuts.
Dan @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:09PM
Get into your black car in Texas in July and you'll find out why they sell so many white ones.
Tricky dicky @ Apr 3rd 2008 3:01PM
looks great on them.. the press seems to be stunned that toyota sales have not continues to skyrocket..
welcome to the real world. my bet it they end up shuttering the plant since for the foreseeable future, 200k capacity is more than enough.
MajorGeek @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:03PM
No doubt, they were up against a lineup of quality pickup trucks and with gas prices where they are, they are advertising a huge truck with a huge engine, followed by the Seqoia, which seems like a bad idea. Anyone have a Tundra that can tell me what MPG it gets in real life? Ive always suspected 10-12.
Dan @ Apr 3rd 2008 5:14PM
The Tundra gets very good mileage for a fullsize truck, about the same as the Chevy with the 5.3 and 10-15% better than everything else.
Whether that works out to 10-12 or not depends on the course and your right foot.
caddy dave @ Apr 3rd 2008 11:49PM
Silverado 14/19
Ford 13/17
Dodge 12/16
Tundra 13/17
Don't know where you got your guesstimate Dan, next time look it up.
One of the biggest three complaints on the Tundra forums is the fuel economy. No one claims to get near the epa estimate.
Gary Blomquist @ Apr 3rd 2008 3:59PM
I'd say that Texas is quite a few miles further away from North Eastern U.S., UAW influence too.
Wouldn't be surprised if that is really Toyota's reason from moving all operations to Texas from Indiana? Nissan is set up in the South with Titan P.U. production, and Hyundai is building a lot of cars in the Southern U.S. too.
tankd0g @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:01PM
Perhaps they will put the plant on wheels for easy rolling across the border once the NAFTA highway is built.
That One Person @ Apr 3rd 2008 4:24PM
Doesn't surprise me. Toyota missed their mark with the Tundra and sales are only going down. But it may end up benefiting them in the future...
So much for that supposed half a million per year capacity.
caddy dave @ Apr 3rd 2008 11:55PM
Rumor has it that Toyota will be offering up to three extra tailgates upon delivery to be used as spares. Add that to all the rest of the spare parts and the trailer with the spare parts bin needed to get through the first year of ownership and that extra towing capacity will be earned.
AM @ Apr 4th 2008 12:38AM
My Tundra 5.7L 4x4 RC MPG: 14.5 city 18 hwy avg speed 70 mph. Read the reviews; the Tundra gets better real world mileage than the Chevy. I owned a Ford, drive a Chevy for work and bought the Tundra. Glad I bought the Tundra. Oh and tailgate is just fine.
caddy dave @ Apr 4th 2008 9:25PM
Yea right. Next you'll tell us how Elvis is the one that figured the math for you.
Heard said the Tundra handbook says never to include miles traveled on the hook of a tow truck for mpg.
Borger @ Apr 4th 2008 8:43AM
You mean there are people who want to drive a truck with an ugly pig nose, broken cam shafts and tailgates that split apart? Good luck on that! HAHAHAHA!
Brian @ Apr 4th 2008 9:45AM
HEY DAVE!! THE TUNDRA IS NOT PRODUCED ANYWHERE OTHER THAN INDIANA AND TEXAS. Get your facts straight before spouting of at the mouth.
Byron @ Apr 4th 2008 5:46PM
Brian,
Dave was mistaken. He was thinking of the Tacoma. You're correct. The Tundra is made only at the Indiana and Texas plants. The Tacoma is made at the NUMMI joint venture plant in California and a small number at the Mexico plant.
Dern @ Apr 4th 2008 9:01PM
Will they make the tailgates at that plant too? Or is that a dealer-installed option?