[Yotoya]

I was just reading this article and Ford was number one for the month while the Tundra was number 16! Number 16! The Tundra was way behind some inferior crap.

Man, it's hard to believe that Ford with it's old body style and ***-in-the-air look can still sell like that. WTF??

I'm not very good at posting links or I would have. Number 16?! Unbelievable!

 

[07Sport]

Toyota was also the only fullsize truck producer to have an increase in sales percentage. All the others were down. Its not gonna happen over night.

Big Three get March U.S. sales beating, Toyota cheers - Yahoo! News

 

[stubblejumper]

From the link in the previous post

Toyota (7203.T), which is expected to overtake GM as the world's largest automaker as soon as this year, posted a 7.7-percent increase in March on the strength of its sedans, including the Prius hybrid car, and crossovers or car-based sports utility vehicles.

In the pickup truck market -- the last niche dominated by U.S. automakers -- GM, Ford and Chrysler all saw sales fall.

Sales of Chevrolet Silverado dropped 12 percent, while GMC Sierra purchases were down 18 percent. Chrysler's Dodge Ram pickup sales slipped 5 percent.


Toyota, however, posted an 8 percent increase in sales of its new Tundra pickup trucks.

 

[07Sport]

Yep, thanks for copying those, I was just too lazy to I suppose...:ts: :tu:

 

[1stToy]

Man, it's hard to believe that Ford with it's old body style and ***-in-the-air look can still sell like that. WTF??

You can knock Fords' old body style all you want, but that old body style only came out in 2004, and a lot of folks think it's a solid muscular looking truck. If I were going solely on looks, I'm not sure if I'd take the Tundra over an F-150, unfortunately for Ford there are a lot of good reasons to go with the Tundra. In addition Toyota has to over come issues like buyer loyalty, and a long established track record of Ford building good trucks.

The new Tundra is a really good product, and I think their sales will continue to climb, but building market share in the US full sized truck market is not an easy thing to do. If Toyota thought it would be cake, don't you think they would have launched a true full sized truck a long time ago?

 

[JayCee1]

IMO, Toyota blundered by trying to go up against Ford, GM and Dodge in the full sized truck market. That market is already saturated, and with the price of gasoline trending steadily upward, the “full sized” truck is well on its way to becoming a dinosaur. Gasoline is already knocking on the door of $3 a gallon, and the usual summer increase should boost it up over the $3 mark. Plus, depending on events in the oil producing parts of the world, we may see even more drastic increases. Unless I needed it for work, I wouldn't buy a full sized truck today.

 

[93cruiser]

IMO, Toyota blundered by trying to go up against Ford, GM and Dodge in the full sized truck market. That market is already saturated, and with the price of gasoline trending steadily upward, the “full sized” truck is well on its way to becoming a dinosaur. Gasoline is already knocking on the door of $3 a gallon, and the usual summer increase should boost it up over the $3 mark. Plus, depending on events in the oil producing parts of the world, we may see even more drastic increases. Unless I needed it for work, I wouldn't buy a full sized truck today.

you have an 06, so how can you feel that way? my 07 is getting the same mpg as my 05.
wasnt gas just as high when you got your 06?
no blunder by toyota at all

 

[JayCee1]

wasnt gas just as high when you got your 06?

It wasn't as high as it is today. IIRC, around $2 a gallon. I have a very short commute to work, so I don't fill up but once every 2-3 weeks. And I get 17-19 mpg.

no blunder by toyota at all

Well, that remains to be seen...Toyota is seen by most folks as mainly a car company that also makes a few trucks. Toyota's reputation for reliability comes from its cars, not from its trucks, so it's going to be tough to get Ford and GM truck owners to change over to Toyota. I think most buyers of Toyota trucks are going to be those who, like me, have owned a Toyota truck before. Guys that own GMs or Fords are probably going to stick with them. JMHO...

 

[07Sport]

Well, that remains to be seen...Toyota is seen by most folks as mainly a car company that also makes a few trucks. Toyota's reputation for reliability comes from its cars, not from its trucks, so it's going to be tough to get Ford and GM truck owners to change over to Toyota. I think most buyers of Toyota trucks are going to be those who, like me, have owned a Toyota truck before. Guys that own GMs or Fords are probably going to stick with them. JMHO...

Thats entirely based on who you talk to. The local farmers around here SWEAR by toyotas. Theyre still running around in mid 80s trucks w/ 200k+ on them, still going strong. Ive got alot of positive comments from them which is somewhat ironic as they are the very "good ole boys" toyota was hoping to impress with the new trucks. Toyotas reputation for reliability is not only because of its cars.

 

[1stToy]

While I'd like to think that high gas prices will dramatically alter American fuel consumption, I have my doubts. I look around town and the numbers of SUV's and 4X4 pickups has never been higher in my 50+ years. I can't help but think it will take another Oil Embargo to make a change in our habits. Instead I suspect we'll see a serious effort on the part of manufactures to squeeze more performance out of less gas. Something that maybe should have been addressed a long time ago.

 

[bugchucker]

IMO, Toyota blundered by trying to go up against Ford, GM and Dodge in the full sized truck market. That market is already saturated, and with the price of gasoline trending steadily upward, the “full sized” truck is well on its way to becoming a dinosaur. Gasoline is already knocking on the door of $3 a gallon, and the usual summer increase should boost it up over the $3 mark. Plus, depending on events in the oil producing parts of the world, we may see even more drastic increases. Unless I needed it for work, I wouldn't buy a full sized truck today.

Toyota "blundered" by providing a superior 1/2 ton truck! I think not. Gas is $3.20 for regular here. If you have ever driven in Europe, you would consider that dirt cheap. When gas hits $10/gal, I'll take notice. If you are so concerned over gas prices, go buy a Prius.

 

[stubblejumper]

Guys that own GMs or Fords are probably going to stick with them. JMHO...

After 2 fords and 4 GMs,my 2007 Tundra is my first toyota.

 

[JayCee1]

I can't help but think it will take another Oil Embargo to make a change in our habits.

OPEC is cutting production and elections are being held this week in Nigeria, one of the biggest suppliers to the US. If the elections in Nigeria go badly, i.e., if the population thinks there's been fraud, there could be widespread unrest in the country, and oil producers could be forced to shut down. This would send gasoline prices skyrocketing, and it's not a far-fetched scenario.

 

[07Sport]

After 2 fords and 4 GMs,my 2007 Tundra is my first toyota.

Agreed, ive owned 2 Fords, 2 Dodges, 3 GMs and this is my first Toyota.:tu:

 

[JayCee1]

When gas hits $10/gal, I'll take notice.

What a ridiculous statement! You, and everyone else in this spoiled country are going to be belly-aching long before gasoline gets to $10 a gallon.

 

[bbfirebird]

Toyota will not surpass GM or Ford in pickup sales anytime in the forseeable future. Not because the Tundra is an inferior truck, but because the San Antonio plant is only equipped to produce around 200,000 trucks per year. GM and Ford each sell around 800,000-900,000 trucks per year.

As far as Toyota's Tundra sales increasing from March 06 to March 07, one reason for that probably has to do with the fact that a lot of people who were thinking of buying a Tundra in March 06 might have thought about waiting for the 07 tundra to come out. I know back in March 06, the Tundra was supposed to debut in Sept. or Oct. 06, which was only about 6 months away. I remember this because I bought an 06 in March 2006, and the thought of waiting for an 07 did cross my mind.

 

[firetruck41]

IMO, Toyota blundered by trying to go up against Ford, GM and Dodge in the full sized truck market. That market is already saturated, and with the price of gasoline trending steadily upward, the “full sized” truck is well on its way to becoming a dinosaur. Gasoline is already knocking on the door of $3 a gallon, and the usual summer increase should boost it up over the $3 mark. Plus, depending on events in the oil producing parts of the world, we may see even more drastic increases. Unless I needed it for work, I wouldn't buy a full sized truck today.

No blunder, the Tundra was up for a redesign, and Toyota will sell more of these then they sold of the old Tundra, they have no interest in out selling the Domestics for decades to come.

Toyota's reputation for reliability comes from the Land Cruiser truck from the 60's and right up until today, as well as from the ultra reliable mini trucks from the 80's with the 22r, their cars haven't done too bad either.

 

[07Sport]

As far as Toyota's Tundra sales increasing from March 06 to March 07, one reason for that probably has to do with the fact that a lot of people who were thinking of buying a Tundra in March 06 might have thought about waiting for the 07 tundra to come out. I know back in March 06, the Tundra was supposed to debut in Sept. or Oct. 06, which was only about 6 months away. I remember this because I bought an 06 in March 2006, and the thought of waiting for an 07 did cross my mind.

That argument doesnt really hold water, as the GMs were due for a redesign too, yet their sales still dropped 12% and 18% respectively. Does that mean Toyota buyers are more patient than GM buyers? I highly doubt that. Also, not all new Tundra buyers are past Tundra owners (me for example).

 

[1stToy]

As far as over coming buyer loyalty, it can be done. You have to put a demonstrably superior product on the market. Has Toyota done that? One former Ford driver, soon to be Tundra driver says YES!

 

[brucec039]

It's funny how our media leads us around by the nose and we fall for it. Perspective has been lost. Fuel costs are not the driving factor that the media tries to tell us they are. Yes, they matter , but it's not going to make you change your way of life unless you are borderline making it already. Newsflash. If you are broke and make $20K a year, you are not buying $30000 plus crew cab pickups!

1. The typical poor person does not buy big new SUV's and pickups. So....

2. The average full size truck buyer is likely using it for work (no choice to downsize anyway) or is at least somewhat more affluent than average.

3. Let's say the average income for this family is $75,000, still fairly modest. They take home about $60,000 of this after various taxes. That's $5,000/mo

4. They spend $381/month on gas if they have vehicles averaging 15mpg and drive 25,000 miles a year combined, which is pretty high and gas costs $2.75/gal avg over the year. If they switch to family sized full size cars or crossovers, they might average 20mpg in mixed driving. In that case they spend $286/month. So it's a whopping $95/month difference in fuel cost between choosing the old way and the new fuel efficient way. Do not compare a full size crew cab truck to a Prius. They are not comparable in terms of family utility.

5. This means changing their vehicle of choice saved them 2% of their monthly budget. Significant, but not something to make people rush out to buy 5 seat cars. If truck sales are down 5 or 8 percent or whatever, that is the number of people changing. That is relatively small.

6. And in reality, since most cars depreciate much faster than trucks, they can expect to lose that gas savings in the form of added depreciation at resale time. Ironically It actually costs MORE to own most fuel efficient midsize and full size cars than comparably equipped trucks. Unfortunately, many Americans are so economically uneducated that they only see what they pay for out of pocket at the pump, and not the total cost of ownership.

It's one thing to buy a more effcient vehicle to limit our oil imports and reduce emissions (slightly), it's another to do it thinking you're saving a lot of cash.

Anyone wishing to save on fuel costs should forget about small variations in MPG and start thinking about how many wasted trips he's making each week. Dropping miles driven not only saves gas, it also saves mileage on your vehicle, tires, maint costs, etc, which are equally as important as fuel savings. Our streets here are full of cars at 2pm on weekdays. Why is that?