DETROIT, March 29 — Toyota Motor continues to increase discounts on its new full-size pickup, the Tundra, another sign that it is not cutting into the profitable truck market as much as rival automakers had feared.
Toyota dealers began offering a $1,000 trade-in incentive this week to Tundra buyers, who can combine that discount with existing cash-back offers of as much as $2,000.
Analysts say they are surprised to see such heavy incentives on a vehicle that went on sale less than two months ago, but Denise Morrissey, a spokeswoman for the automaker, said that such offers were “just part of how you do business.”
Ms. Morrissey said Thursday that higher discounts were available on some competing trucks and that failing to keep up could hurt the Tundra’s ability to attract shoppers. “In the truck segment, the customers really do expect them,” Ms. Morrissey said. “This is our first real foray into this segment. When in Rome, you know.”
The Tundra’s growing list of incentives is welcome news in Detroit, which has long dominated the pickup market. Although General Motors and Ford have publicly said they are not worried about losing sales to the Tundra, Toyota has shown repeatedly that it should never be underestimated.
So far the Tundra, which was redesigned to be bigger and brawnier, has fallen short of its publicity. Toyota, known for its commitment to vehicle safety, suffered a mild embarrassment last week when the federal government gave the Tundra a four-star rating in frontal crash tests — one star fewer than all competing models made by Detroit.
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