Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Octane
You obviously havent priced out a similarly equipped Ford or GM truck. They all go for $20,000+.
|
You'd be right. An F150 similarly equipped to what a base Tundra offers is only about a grand less than that same base Tundra, msrp tp msrp. But to be fair Ford, like GM, never expects people to actually pay that much for a base truck and instead rebates those base trucks down to 15k or so the minute they hit the lots.
To be fair I have always found this approach a curious tactic. (hey, here's an idea....why not just make the base msrp 16k or so to begin with) But the difference between Ford, GM, and Toyota is that Toyota actually thought there were a large volume of people who might pay 22k for an entry level, 2wd, V6 long bed Tundra. And that is what has worried me all along. Anybody who thinks they'll find 100k people a year willing to pay 22k for a base full-size pickup (oddballs like Nissans V8-only Titan not withstanding) is off their nut and so far gone from anything most people would consider reality they'll need to hail a cab to get back.
Even with the 3k in rebates the Tundra now carries it's still a 19k vehicle which is, unfortunately, still unrealistic for a base pickup, especially one from a relative upstart in a field where people don't generally seem to feel slighted by existing offerings. Fixing the product mix will certainly help, at least in the short term. But while the Crew Cab V8's are apparently doing well one is left wondering how long one promising model can carry the whole mix.
Long term Toyota still needs to address the poorly accepted styling and pricing issues. It might also prove beneficial if they didn't try to wade into the full size pickup market so slowly. They need a product mix at least as diverse as the big three have and they need right out of the starting gate.
Quote:
|
Originally Posted by Toysrme
People that drive and buy trucks don't give an ants piss towards fuel consumption. If they did no turbo diesel, or v8 would have ever existed to begin with.
|
I think you've got this backwards. Turbo Diesel V8's are largely popular, and are soon to make an appearance in half ton trucks, precisely because of the fuel economy they offer relative to what a similarly powerful gas engine might offer.
