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All-New Tundra Is Toyota’s Biggest Priority For The U.S. Market

As far as pickups are concerned, Toyota is an automaker of the extremes. Even though the Tacoma is the best-selling workhorse in the mid-size segment, the Tundra lingers at the back of the pack because of its age. And old it is, the oldest in the full-size segment.
Toyota Tundra 11 photos
Photo: Toyota
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Introduced in 2006 at the Chicago Auto Show, the second-generation Tundra went through multiple changes over the years. But the underpinnings of the truck remained the same, which is not the most competitive thing to do, not when Ford pushes the envelope so far with the thirteenth-gen F-150. Ram and Chevrolet are on a roll too, which is why an overhaul is utmost necessary if Toyota doesn’t want to lose its mojo.

“I don’t think there’s a much higher priority than that,” declared Jack Hollis, group vice president and general manager of the Toyota division at Toyota Motor North America. Speaking to Auto Guide, Hollis further mentioned that his team is “looking at what the new one would look like.”

The choice of words is an indication that platform, powertrain, and interior design development have been wrapped up or in the process of being finished. The exterior, meanwhile, is a work-in-progress matter that Toyota doesn’t want to make a hash of it. But beyond the looks of the newcomer, what the next-generation Tundra can’t afford to do wrong is reliability.

Drawing attention to the million-mile Tundra that made the rounds in 2016, Hollis posed the following question: “How do we take that million miles, that ability to produce a product like that and take it to the new one?” As for when the next-generation Tundra will arrive at dealers, most reports indicate 2019 for the 2020 model year is the best case scenario.

In addition to the Tundra, the automaker’s North American office knows that it will be hard to fill the shoes of the FJ Cruiser. But Toyota will try to do it by going more mainstream with a crossover inspired by the FT-AC Concept from the 2017 Los Angeles Auto Show. Just like the full-size workhorse, the new utility vehicle is expected to arrive by decade’s end.
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About the author: Mircea Panait
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After a 1:43 scale model of a Ferrari 250 GTO sparked Mircea's interest for cars when he was a kid, an early internship at Top Gear sealed his career path. He's most interested in muscle cars and American trucks, but he takes a passing interest in quirky kei cars as well.
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