Toyota Makes Major Strides into Full-Size Truck Market

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The latest retail transaction data gathered by the Power Information Network highlights the growing popularity of the 2007 Toyota Tundra.
PIN officials said Toyota's share of the full-size pickup truck market increased to 14.4 percent in February, a rise from the 12.4 percent figure they noted for January.

Since the launch of the truck, PIN reported that owner loyalty for the Toyota Tundra is strong since 53 percent of those owners traded that unit in for this year's model during February. That trade-in rate was more than twice the percentage for the 2006 model last year, according to PIN officials.

PIN's report also noted how the Tundra is carving further into the domestics' share of the truck market. The rate of customers trading in a Tundra for one of the Big 3 models — the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, the Ford F-150 or the Dodge Ram 1500 — dropped considerably in February, according to the company's data. Conversely, PIN also pointed out that customers purchasing a Tundra by trading in a Chevrolet, Ford or Dodge unit clearly increased last month.

"It's still early, and owner loyalty is just one measure of marketplace success, but so far the Tundra seems to be gaining strength in the segment," explained Tom Libby, the senior director of industry analysis at PIN.

"This is an interesting scenario because the impressive strength of the Toyota juggernaut is being pitted against the domestics' long-time stronghold," Libby added.

The sales spike for Toyota comes at the same time when the Tundra currently has the average highest actual retail transaction price in the full-size pickup truck category. PIN's report pointed out that the average price of the Tundra was $33,182, which was higher compared to the offerings from Dodge ($25,564), Ford ($32,312) and Chevrolet ($31,727) as well as the Nissan Titan ($27,664).

The annual percentage rate on loans for the Toyota, Dodge, Chevrolet and Nissan trucks ranged in between 9 and 11 percent, PIN noted. Ford's rate was considerably less at 7.11 percent. The company calculated the monthly payment for these trucks on a 72-month loan ranged from $558 to $603.

Those average actual retail transaction price figures varied slightly when PIN compared them on a regional basis. Officials said the Tundra was the most expensive in the Midwest, Southwest and West, however it ranked behind the Silverado 1500 and the F-150 in the Southeast. The Tundra also came in behind the F-150 in the Northeast, according to PIN.

"New products and stable fuel prices will drive a strong rebound in the large pickup segment in 2007, increasing from 13.5 percent of the total sales market in 2006 to 14.2 percent," noted Jeff Schuster, the executive director of automotive intelligence at J.D. Power and Associates, which is affiliated with PIN.

"Toyota dove head first into a very competitive segment with a solid entry, and although the model lineup is not yet as robust as the competition, we expect the Tundra to nearly double in volume from 124,508 in 2006 to 210,000 in 2007," Schuster continued.

Autobytel Survey Forecasted Tundra Surge

The latest retail transaction data gathered by the PIN reinforced the findings a consumer study that was completed by Autobytel earlier this year about the popularity of the 2007 Toyota Tundra. As reported previously by Auto Remarketing, an Autobytel consumer survey conducted earlier this year showed an upward trend of interest in the Toyota Tundra among customers looking to make a full-size truck purchase.

According to Autobytel officials, 26 percent of intended truck purchasers planned on buying the new Toyota Tundra Crew Max, a figure higher than the 20 percent who said they would buy a Ford F-150 and the 19 percent who stated they would purchase a Chevrolet Silverado or GMC Sierra. Only 5.5 percent of intended truck purchasers planned to buy a Dodge Ram, the survey added.
Autobytel cited reliability as the primary reason for survey respondents selecting Toyota trucks most over any of the Detroit 3 offerings.

"Despite Toyota's ad campaign promoting the Tundra's braking, towing and overall ruggedness, the automaker's Teflon reputation for reliability may be the decisive factor in buyers' minds," Autobytel officials explained.

Autobytel's results as well as the data collected by PIN demonstrated that the stranglehold on the truck market by the Detroit 3 could be slipping. Autobytel cited data that showed domestics accounted for 91 percent of the 2.2 million full-size trucks sold in the U.S. last year.

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Time to buy some more Toyota stock Doesn't that sound promising!!