Toyota bumps incentives another $1,000 on Tundra

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Toyota bumps incentives another $1,000 on Tundra


Mark Rechtin


LOS ANGELES -- Facing pricing pressure from domestic automakers willing to place cash incentives on their full-sized pickups, Toyota Division has added a nationwide $1,000 spiff on the just-launched 2007 Tundra.

The new incentive can only be applied to help a customer with a vehicle trade-in allowance, said Denise Morrissey of Toyota. Dealers do not have to spend the entire $1,000; they can offer it how they see fit, Morrissey said.

Toyota already has incentives of up to $2,000 cash back on the Tundra, which vary by model and region. The standard cab Tundra has as much as $2,000 cash back, depending on the region. The extended cab model has up to a $1,000 spiff. The Crew Max model has no incentives, and the trade-in assistance is not applicable on that model, Morrissey said.

Toyota Financial Services also has special APR and lease rates for customers with Tier 1 or Tier 2 credit ratings.

The trade-in incentive is effective through the end of April. The other incentives are expected to stay in force next month as well.

You may e-mail Mark Rechtin at mrechtin@crain.com

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[dascrow]

I thought I had a source for the latest news and incentives.. You beat me to this one!

[tms usa]

Originally Posted by dascrow

I thought I had a source for the latest news and incentives.. You beat me to this one!

Mark Recitin is fast!

And his story is factual . . . But there have been a few that suggest we're loading up the incentives to ignite sales. Hardly. Consider these facts-->

• Tundra sales across the U.S. are right on track, boosted by last week's arrival of the Crew Max
• Sales volumes are particularly strong in the southeast and the gulf states
• We're seeing the majority of our Tundra sales go to current Toyota owners; additional sales coming in from consumers switching brands
• Our dealers are reporting a surprising number of heavy-duty 3/4 ton pickup owners going for Tundra
• Sales target? Still 200,000 for the year with regular cab, double cab and Crew Max comprising 10, 60 and 30 percent of the mix, respectively
• Very active dealer traffic in our showrooms, but many buyers coming in with negative equity on their current trucks --And, yes, to help our dealers maintain a competitive position in this hot marketplace, we're giving them more stuff to work with--like the targeted incentives mentioned in Mark's article to assist Toyota dealers in "conquesting" those customers that do have those negative equity hardships
• This is a heavily incentivized truck market, and our Tundra incentives will vary by region--But they're going to focus pretty much on the purchase transaction issues of people with trade-ins looking to get into the Tundra B (regular) and C (double) cabs
• What's next? Well, we'll make adjustments here and there based on consumer demand, the feedback we get from our dealers and from folks on forums such as Tundra Talk. . . also on what our competitors throw out into the marketplace

So it is once again the voice of consumers that tends to drive the market, even for big trucks like the Tundra. It's actually one of the best times ever for people wanting such a vehicle to buy one . . . and, of course, we sure hope it's a great new Tundra. BTW, here are a couple of video clips taken earlier during our pre-launch certification tests that show pretty clearly why we do think Tundra's #1.

BEST IN CLASS--0 TO 60 AND STOP
BEST IN CLASS--0 TO 60 PULLING 8500

Hope this clarifies what we're doing to ensure the new Tundra is best in consumers' eyes in this hotly competitive full size truck market.