It's All In The Mix

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Toyota dealers have a hard time finding the exact Tundra customers want
Launching the 2007 Tundra is giving Toyota culture shock.

Buyers of Toyota's redesigned full-sized pickup are acting like buyers of domestic trucks. They demand specific features, colors and trim levels, says Jim Farley, Toyota Division's former group vice president of marketing. Late last week, Farley became general manager of Lexus Division.

It's a switch for a company whose customers typically accept whatever is available from lean inventories of the Camry and other popular models, Farley concedes.

Tundra customers "say, 'I want the off-road package with the black leather interior,' " Farley told Automotive News. "They have a build-to-order mentality that we are not used to at Toyota."

Toyota is swapping Tundras among sales regions and allowing dealers to change build orders to meet customer demands, Farley says.

Domestic-brand dealerships traditionally carry much larger inventories than Toyota retailers, Farley says. As a result, he says, "customers can literally walk down a row and say, 'That's my truck.' "

By contrast, Farley says, Toyota dealers are unaccustomed to hearing customers say: "I want your CrewMax, but I am not going to buy it until I see it."

Toyota is using a flexible vehicle pool to manage Tundra inventory, Farley says. "A dealer in Ohio calls the distribution manager and says, 'Can you flip the red one I have with the black one I want?' "

Local dealer trades also are possible, he says. But they are not always successful, given variations in Tundra configurations.

Dealers can make minor changes in build orders, such as vehicle color, a week before production, Farley says. They also can file special orders.

Toyota is working to accommodate more complex changes quicker, Farley says. But he notes that the redesigned Tundra has 31 models compared with 16 in the version it replaced: "The complexity is enormous."


By MARY CONNELLY | AUTOMOTIVE NEWS