We reported in March that Toyota was
offering incentives on its 2006 Toyota Tundra to prevent potential customers from holding out for the much bigger
2007 model due next January. Apparently that was half the story.
According to the Detroit News,
Toyota is not content being a distant fourth in truck sales after the Detroit Big Three. The world’s second largest
automaker is especially interested in Ford buyers: the Blue Oval sold more pickups in Texas alone than Toyota sold in
the entire nation. Toyota’s current incentives are a strategy to lure once-brand loyal consumers from the
competition.
And it may be working. While sales of the current Tundra are lower than last year, the reason
may be due more to lower inventory than lack of interest.
The average American consumer in the market for a
truck, however, is likely not so easily swayed by price. We expect many truck buyers have brand loyalty that runs
deeper than their wallets.
[Source: Detroit News]