Autoblog

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]

Whenever we talk about GM's performance in the global market, people invariably want to hear about how well Toyota is doing in the same arena. The Japanese automaker has been nipping at the General's heels in terms of the number of units each automaker has sold globally so far this year. Earlier in the year, Toyota actually surpassed GM in global sales, but the American auto giant has since regained the lead in year-to-date global sales and keeps it through Q3.

On a global scale, Toyota performed quite well in its own fiscal second quarter, which is the same period as the calendar year third quarter for most companies. During this period, Toyota earned its second highest ever operating profit of $5.01 billion, but its North American figures were hurt by a few factors, chief among them being incentives required to increase sales of its Tundra full-size pickup. Higher raw material costs and, of course, the subprime market meltdown are also contributing factors.

Regardless, Toyota isn't budging on how many vehicles it expects to sell worldwide during its fiscal year that ends March 31, 2008. In fact, it's raised its target to 8.93 million units, up some 40,000 units from previous estimates. Seems that despite recent bumps in the road concerning quality concerns over the car and trucks it sells in the U.S., Toyota's juggernaut keeps on steaming ahead.

[Source: Automotive News, sub. req'd]

At the risk of piling on, we bring you more news from the Toyota Tundra camp. Earlier this month Toyota told dealers they would be allowed up to $1,500 in incentives on the base-model Tundra in an effort to take some market share from the Big 2.5. Now, ToMoCo is offering Toyota, Lexus, Scion and Hino Motors Ltd. truck dealers $2,000 toward the purchase of a B-cab Tundra.

In the past, dealers had to go through "channels" to acquire such vehicles, but in addition to the cash, the new program is apparently intended to allow dealers to skip some of the red tape.

Should it be necessary to offer incentives to your dealers to buy the very product you're trying to sell? With more than 1,200 dealers, sales numbers wouldn't spike all that much, actually. But the image boost of all those shiny new Tundras would surely be a plus. Maybe Toyota should also consider offering special incentives to the behind-the-scenes crews of its commercials and, what the heck, those NHTSA workers too. Couldn't hurt.

[Source: AP via Forbes.com]