Toyota Tundra launch worse than expected
The launch of the new Toyota Tundra seems to be going badly...Toyota is offering more rebates on this truck right after launch than they've offered on anything they've released in the past five years.
See this article for more info:
http://www.tundraheadquarters.com/blog/2007/03/30/new-tundra-launch-worse-than-e- xpected/
See this article for more info:
http://www.tundraheadquarters.com/blog/2007/03/30/new-tundra-launch-worse-than-e- xpected/
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I have seen prices of Nissan Titan drop in recent weeks. You can easily get a Titan King Cab SE for under $20K here in Atlanta. Lets just wait until summer and gas prices get close to $3 per gallon for real discounts to kick in.
Tundra is a nice truck, but its not that much better than competition for the price difference that Toyota wants for this truck. The reason Camry sells as well as it does is that its fairly cheap to buy and it has good resale value. There is no price premium for Camry over Accord or Altima. The same thing will happen with Tundra. There will be no price premium for Tundra over Ford or GM or Nissan Trucks. It will be priced the same as other trucks on the market. This means even bigger rebates in near future. :P
The more people put off the purchase of Tundra, the cheaper they will get.
On these forums when we conmpare the new Tundra to the domestic front-runners, we do it on features (which it is comparable to the domestics), and then price (MSRP). However, naysayers often claim that MSRP aren't a good measure for comparison because of all the domestic offers of rebates/incentives blah blah blah (which makes the domestic buy the better bang for the buck). So, now that Toyota is dropping down to the price level of the domestics by rebates and incentives, naysayers are now saying it's dropping because of poor sales and that the lackluster quality of the truck is now showing its true colors.
No matter what Toyota does to get this truck in the hands of consumers (despite gas prices *already* at $3/gallon in California), naysayers will always find a way to say that Toyota failed in introducing this truck.
The real question is how much money are people going to loose by buying this truck early before the main rebates come into effect. We all know that rebates are coming soon. I am just amazed that people will spend an extra $2000 to drive a truck for an extra month or two. This is what this discussion is all about.
I don't worry too much about what a few internet naysayers can do to damage the reputation of the Tundra. After all, they are nothing more than words on a computer screen, not concrete fact. I know personally the capabilities of the Tundra, and I know others who have purchased one. I think I'd rather rely on what THEY say based on experience than a bunch of closed-minded, blindly loyal GM fans who have sold this truck down the river before it even appeared.
Think of it as their loss... :shades:
Don't forge that the truck market is shrinking this year over all anyway. This due to slow housing market and high gas prices. Also don't forget that the new Texas truck factory that Toyota just built are only now starting to produce trucks. Until now all of the Tundra trucks that I have seen came from Indiana factory.
Just put all of these factors together and it only leads to lower prices. All I am saying is that if you want to blow your hard earned money on a Tundra now, go for it. But if you are smart and wait for July-August time frame, I am sure that prices will come down by $2000 to $3000.
Hey Toyota just introduced this truck and already there are rebates. For me $3000 is a lot of money.
Top 10 Pickups
Sales Figures
Year-to-Date (YTD) Mar-2007
Ford F-Series
171,651 -14.1% YTD
March 2007: 71,481
March 2006: 84,168
Chevrolet Silverado
152,715 +5.1% YTD
March 2007: 55,626
March 2006: 60,833
Dodge Ram
67,163 -1.0% YTD
February 2007: 38,301
February 2006: 38,709
GMC Sierra
47,790 +3.8% YTD
March 2007: 16,503
March 2006: 19,435
Toyota Tacoma
46,328 +7.9% YTD
March 2007: 18,243
March 2006: 15,662
Toyota Tundra
29,186 -10.7% YTD
March 2007: 13,196
March 2006: 11,800
Chevrolet Colorado
19,769 +3.0% YTD
March 2007: 7,685
March 2006: 8,355
Nissan Titan
18,847 -13.7% YTD
March 2007: 7,563
March 2006: 8,328
NOTE: The tundra DOWN 10% YTD.................
Since the new Tundra didn't even GO ON SALE until mid-Feb, and production of the old Tundra was halted MONTHS AGO for the changeover, JUST looking at ytd (year to date) sales is misleading (which, obviously, would be to your benefit).
So, why not compare sales during March of this year (when the new Tundra was on-sale for the entire month) compared to sales during March of '06?
Ford F-Series
171,651 -14.1% YTD
March 2007: 71,481
March 2006: 84,168 Down 15.1% FOR MARCH
Chevrolet Silverado
152,715 +5.1% YTD
March 2007: 55,626
March 2006: 60,833 DOWN 8.6% FOR MARCH
Dodge Ram
67,163 -1.0% YTD
February 2007: 38,301
February 2006: 38,709 Down 1.1% FOR MARCH
GMC Sierra
47,790 +3.8% YTD
March 2007: 16,503
March 2006: 19,435 DOWN 15.1% FOR MARCH
Toyota Tacoma
46,328 +7.9% YTD
March 2007: 18,243
March 2006: 15,662 Up 16.5% FOR MARCH
Toyota Tundra
29,186 -10.7% YTD
March 2007: 13,196
March 2006: 11,800 UP 11.8% FOR MARCH
Chevrolet Colorado
19,769 +3.0% YTD
March 2007: 7,685
March 2006: 8,355 DOWN 8.0% FOR MARCH
Nissan Titan
18,847 -13.7% YTD
March 2007: 7,563
March 2006: 8,328 Down 9.2% FOR MARCH
Hmmmmmmm, unless my eyes deceive me, when comparing March figures for '06 vs '07, the ONLY trucks to post gains are the Toyota Tacoma and Tundra.
Methinks your prognostication regarding a failed Tundra launch to be wishful thinking......
GM full size 2500 GMT-900 trucks................
I just posted other sales figures from another site.....
GM full size 2500 GMT-900 trucks................ "
Yes, you probably could. When did the new GM 2500 GMT-900 trucks go on sale?
Look, I'm not trying to pick a fight with you - all I'm saying is that ONLY looking at 'year to date' sales for the new Tundra compared to last year is misleading since the new Tundra has only been on sale for a few weeks with YTD sales theoretically reflect sales over the full 3 months.
Which is why accusing the new Tundra of being some kind of a sales flop is premature and unwarranted.
Quarterly and yearly numbers are also produced that way. YTD is used primarily to average out the ups and downs of the months included but give little indication of the direction the company is going in.
Fact is that sales for the 07 Tundra are up over the 06 Tundra at the same time as last year. The Silverado and Sierra numbers are down despite both being new models as well. The initial excitement for the new models tend to wear off mid-way through the model year when production has fully ramped up and the backlog of orders has been largely eliminated.
So all that has happened is that Toyota hasn't gone through that phase yet with the 07 Tundra, but it is likely to happen mid- to late-summer and by then monthly sales will show more of a trend one way or another. As favorable as they are to Toyota right now, more monthly sales numbers are needed before we can see what is happening.
The truck segment as a whole is getting hit by big increases in gas prices, so who knows how that will affect this market by the time summer is in full swing...
DETROIT -- General Motors dealers are mad as hell and they're not going to take it anymore. A number of leaders at the dealership level, who believe GM's corporate ads aren't aggressive enough, have banded together to take Toyota head-on as GM continues to lose sales to its Japanese competition. >>>
"An internal GM e-mail, obtained by Brandweek, reads: "This Georgia dealer probably obtained legal approval for the [radio ad] by holding the script out of his car window as he drove by the lawyer's office."
Sounds to me like somebody is just begging to get sued......
Myth: Toyota would like the audience to believe the trailer is 10,000 lbs. Fact: It's a 5,000 lb. truck pulling a 5,000 lb. trailer. A little slight (sic) of hand? You bet."
I wonder.............
But still, I understood what he was saying. Whether or not the Tundra sales are great or a complete failure to those that are observing it, there is no doubt that it is just a fraction of the sales that the domestics make. Dealerships that make ridiculous claims are probably doing more damage to their own image than they are increasing sales for their brand. Keeping quite about it until it becomes a real issue (i.e. until there is actual data that the Tundra is taking away a significant portion of sales from the Detroit3) is probably the best thing that they can do. I think they did that with the Titan and its worked fairly well -- Nissan's customers for the full-size truck are fairly marganilized now (though improved bed lengths and truck choices may change that).
"A Saatchi senior producer released an affidavit stating that the Tundra trailer bed was indeed filled with 10,000 pounds of cinderblocks."
I got to tow 10,500 pound with a 5.7L 6-speed transmission Tundra last weekend and it handled like a dream. It had great towing torque over a large range of RPM.
No need to wonder........
Basically, what he was saying was that Toyota should have more aggressively priced their basic models and designed them more as work trucks. Obviously, the rebates reflect this new reality.
Now before anyone flames me for being pro-GM or something, I actually like many Toyota products (I'm seriously considering the new 2008 Scion xB for my commuter vehicle).
The other thing you have to keep in mind is that while the MSRP's are compatible with the domestic competition, the transaction prices are not. Ford and Dodge are both throwing significant rebates on their trucks to move them. Discounts of $6,000 - $9,000 are not uncommon. Even if the Tundra is a superior truck, between brand loyalty and lower transaction prices, it's not going to be an easy road for the new Tundra. However, the fact that they moved 13,000+ units last month, isn't all that horrendous. Yes, they are short of the selling rate of 200,000 annually. However, as availability increases (along with dealer discounts), I think sales will grow a bit.
Just my $0.02....
http://www.fomoconews.com/forums/showthread.php?p=1854#post1854
http://blogs.edmunds.com/Straightline/2639
Bob
- None of the dealerships in this area have the crewmax model....when will they be available in volume? If ever?
- on toyota.com when you configure one, if you try to get the 4.7 liter it defaults to 5.7liter...I assume 4.7 liter is available in the crewmax?
- I would assume that the 5.7 liter gets worse mpg then 4.7 liter but does the 6-speed make them similar in terms of mpg?
4.7 liter is availabe in the crew max
5.7 Liter gets better than the 4.7 in gas mileage because of the VVT-I on exhaust and intake ,the 6 speed trans and the manifold
As I said earlier, Toyota needs to make their 8' bed models more attractive to the work truck audience by increasing the standard payload on those models.
Bob
a $299 a month $21xx down short term lease deal on a reg cab 4x4.......
Still pretty $pendy if you consider you can get a GM 1/2
ton x-cab for a few bucks more.............
But the good news for buyers of doublecab 4x4s...........
Lots are loaded with them.......If you have the $41k
sticker price !!!! :sick:
Tundra Sales
Apr 07 - 14,200
Apr 06 - 8,837
change - +74.1%
kcram - Pickups Host
The dummy head hit the steering wheel THRU the air bag!
Gee..........Only suffered "minor" head trauma !!!!!
And only broke its foot too !!!!!!!!!
Seems like 1 safe vehicle !
No doubt the NHTSA test results ARE correct .........
But the toyota zealots will put some kind of spin
on any negative result.
Gas prices are digging into everyone's pockets though... it doesn't look like $4/gal is too far off...
I RV. I've logged about 5,000 Interstate miles (Il-TX, TX-FL-IL, Il-FL, IL-OH, IL-IA) since April and I like to do "windshield surveys" as I drive. Question is where are those "fantastic" 2007 Tundras? You don't see'em! My dealer has a dozen sitting on the lot so I know production is ongoing. In a typical day of 400 to 500 miles, I'll see M-A-Y-B-E 1! Some days ZERO. Drive around Decatur, IL, where my dealer is, and you might see 1!
Not long before 2008's come out.
It seems like they have more problems than just the Tundra, but recent monthly Tundra sales figures are not looking good for a truck that's supposed to be "changing it all."
http://www.detnews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/article?AID=/20071215/AUTO01/712150373/1148- /rss25
Tailgate
Bed bounce
Torque converter