Toyota Motor Sales USA has surprised industry watchers with its decision to give its seven-year old Tundra pick-up another refresh rather than replace it. The 2014MY truck has had its debut at today’s Chicago auto show media preview day.
The revised Tundra gains a facelift but its 4.0-litre V6, 4.6-litre V8 and 5.7-litre V8 engines are carried over with no rises in power. While the V8s come with a six-speed automatic gearbox, the V6 has a five-speed automatic. The segment leader, Ford’s F-150, comes with a six-speed automatic as standard for all engines.
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TMS is hoping that the new model will underpin the recent improvement in the outgoing model’s popularity. Having reached just under 197,000 sales in 2007, Tundra sales plunged to just 79,385 units in 2009, before recovering to 101,621 last year. A target of 200,000 units per annum has been set for the newly updated model. This seems achievable given the ongoing recovery in US market housing starts and related factors which greatly impact on registrations of big pick-ups.
One novelty for the 2014 Tundra will be a reversing camera fitted as standard for even base variants, something which no rival (yet) has.
TMS’ San Antonio plant in Texas is due to begin building the new model in the summer, with the first 2014MY trucks due to be on dealers’ lots in North American markets from September.
Author: Glenn Brooks
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