2007 Toyota Tundra Makes a Strong Debut in the Large Pickup Segment, Power Information Network Reports - Daily Auto Insider
The Daily Auto Insider
Wednesday, March 21, 2007
March 2007
Initial trading patterns for the all-new 2007 Toyota Tundra suggest a strong start for this model in the domestic-dominated large pickup segment, according to real-time retail transaction data from the Power Information Network (PIN), a division of J.D. Power and Associates.
Since the all-new 2007 Toyota Tundra large pickup was launched in early February, owner loyalty for this model, which represents the percentage of Tundra owners who traded for another Tundra, is 53 percent (February only) — more than twice the January rate of its predecessor and more than 20 percentage points higher than in February of 2006, according to a PIN news release.
Additionally, trading from the Tundra to each of the mainstream domestic large pickups (Chevrolet Silverado 1500, Ford F-150, Ram 1500) dropped considerably in February when compared with January, while trading in the reverse direction increased.
So the article basically repeated what myself and most others have said all along, truck loyalty is fierce. The Toyota faithful represent the majority (53%) of the Tundra sales (trading an old Tundra for a new Tundra), while the Domestic faithful continue to buy their preferred truck (F150, Ram, Silverado, Sierra). Not as many (old) Tundra's are being traded for domestic trucks, and that should not be a surprise (read brand loyalty).
I still contend that the majority of sales for the new Tundra will come from Ram and Titan owners (seem to be the least loyal as both the F150 and Silverado had "loyalty" increases of 4% from Jan to Feb). I do wish the "domestic trucks" conglomerate would have been broken up by individual models to give a clearer picture.
As far as higher "average retail transaction", that’s easy.
1) The domestics own the fleet truck market, and those trucks are very inexpensive, so that alone brings down the "average transaction price" for domestic trucks.
2) Two of the four domestic trucks (or two of the three if you combined both GM trucks) have been on the market for over 4 years with little to no changes, so the Ram and F150 have cash on the hood to move the metal (hell, the Ram has a free Hemi upgrade and $5000 cash back, how’s that for a hit on "average transaction price"!!!). The F150's "average transaction price" is held higher due to it's higher end models such as the King Ranch edition ($45,000+ truck) and Harley Davidson Edition.
3) The Tundra is priced higher than a comparable domestic truck (don't just think new Silverado, but Ram and F150 too).
Combine these, plus the fact that the Tundra is an all new, highly anticipated new vehicle from Toyota, and you have a recipe for higher transaction prices. It will be curious to see these stats after the Tundra has been on the market for a year and all of the "gotta have it", Toyota faithful buyers have their new Tundra. This will be the true test of the new Tundra's "staying power".
With all the being said, I have repeatedly predicted that the Tundra will hit it's 200k mark this year. I test drove one and thought it was a great truck, with a quirky look and a cheap interior. . . . .but as far as capabilities, it is stout!!!!
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WOW!! Is this good news about the new Tundra...what's up with this? Anyway glad to hear some good news despite all the hate and bashing of the Tundra and new NHSTA safety results. Anyway Toyota FTW!!!
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I test drove one and thought it was a great truck, with a quirky look and a cheap interior. . . . .but as far as capabilities, it is stout!!!!
The interior does feel like a bit of a step down compared with the old Tundra. Actually, I think the truck interiors seem to be declining on all the "truck" models (Tacoma 4Runner and Tundra) really. When you look at what they were like in the early/mid 90's until the just past generation they actually seem ALOT nicer in the older ones., and with a better finish. I feel like the interior on the Tundra is a real let down, if anything it feels Dodgy (no pun intended) to me.
Good chart. Suprisingly of the domestics only the ram showed an increase over last year. Both F150 and Silverado deacreased over 06, even with the new Silverado. Looks like a pretty sharp decline too. Perhaps GM buyers are not as loyal as people think.
Fan
Last edited by toyotafanfan; 03-22-2007 at 10:46 AM.
Actually, at second glance, I really dislike this analysis of "truck loyalty = successful launch". There are way too many variables and "apples to oranges" comparisons to make such a simple correlation. Here are a few points that come to mind:
1) The Tundra is (finally!!) a full-sized truck with full-sized capabilities, so who's to say all of those people that, years ago, swore off "domestic's" had to settle for a 3/4 size truck, and now (finally!!) have a true full size offering from Toyota to buy. February is the first month of the Tundra, so this huge spike would coincide with the "loyal" 3/4 size truck owners "upgrading" to a true 1/2 ton truck. . . .
2) GM sells trucks through 2 dealerships, GMC and Chevrolet, not one like Toyota (arguably a smarter move, but that is a discussion for another day). Would a Silverado buyer trading in on a Sierra (or visa versa) be considered an "un-loyal" buyer? They are both made by GM, and I have heard many, many people say they prefer the Sierra's looks to that of the Silverado. With the analysis method above, the Silverado "loyalty" numbers would go down if someone bought a Sierra. . . . .
3) The Silverado's have been out for several months now, and is settling in to it's normal sales pattern (it's actually up). I would like to see the same analysis for the Silverado in it's first month of sales. . . . . . I would bet we would see the same spike for Silverado-for-a-Silverado trade-in's that we see for the Tundra-for-a-Tundra. Also, I bet the average transaction prices would be higher as well (due to a new product, and the "gatta have it" factor).
4) What about those that trade in their Suburban, Tahoe, Avalanche, or other full size SUV for a truck. Those would not be counted, but I would still call these "loyal" customers.
5) People who purchased under the "GM Employee Price" (and there were a TON of them!!!) are only 18-19 months into their purchase or lease. GM basically killed their sales for 6-12 months because of this (stupid!!) sales incentive. So now GM is waiting on these people to pay off their car or finish their lease so they can buy another car or truck. Who's to say potential Silverado buyer are "waiting" for their leases to end (in another 16-17 months) so they can buy a new Silverado. Toyota does not have to wait for such customers due to their more disciplined incentives programs.
At any rate, there are a ton of variables that this analysis does not consider. The "loyalty" factor is only one piece of the pie (albeit a large one), but it, by no means, is the only factor to be looked at when deciding the "success" of a new product launch.
One thing is for sure, with the new Tundra in the mix, all manufactures will be fighting for every sale (which is great for the customer). . . . .
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The charts and all are nice, but that doesn't explain why Tundra sales were down 8.6% over Februry 2006 and down 21.8% for the year. You would think that with all the preorders and hype that sales would have been up (they began showing commercials in mid january) and it wasn't because of supply, our local Toyota dealer had about 12 of the trucks on the opening weekend. I'm sure January sales were down because of the new model anticipation, but I would have thought sales would have been better for February. I'm interested to see how they did at the end of march. At the current rate, 200K is not an obtainable goal for 2007... yet... F-150 sales are definately down.
Also, anyone else noticed gas is about $0.50 more per gallon than it was just a month ago
3) The Silverado's have been out for several months now, and is settling in to it's normal sales pattern (it's actually up). I would like to see the same analysis for the Silverado in it's first month of sales. . . . . . I would bet we would see the same spike for Silverado-for-a-Silverado trade-in's that we see for the Tundra-for-a-Tundra. Also, I bet the average transaction prices would be higher as well (due to a new product, and the "gatta have it" factor).
That analysis isn't possible. GM had WAY too much overlap with the 2007 classic model to really show how well the NBS trucks were doing. They STILL have some 2007 classics on the local lots here. They have been going really cheap too and with no incentives on the NBS trucks (until the past couple weeks) I don't think the NBS GM trucks have been selling well. Their supply SUCKS too. Local dealer lots typically only have 2 to 3 trucks. It will be another couple months before we'd really see how the NBS '07's are doing.
*I drive past the "motor mile" everyday to go home/work. Almost ever car mfg has a dealership on that road.
The charts and all are nice, but that doesn't explain why Tundra sales were down 8.6% over Februry 2006 and down 21.8% for the year.
The new Tundra didn't launch until MID FEBRUARY and many dealers were sold out of 06 Tundras in January. Also, when Toyota launched, they still had supply constraints (and still do), so many dealers did not get enough 5.7s. The CREWMAX hasn't been launched yet either.
That explains the drop over last years sales, the biggest factor being a mid February launch (it was then end of February for launch in Canada and many Canadian dealers were sold out of 06s in Dec of 2006)
fan, how many full sized trucks (total) are sold in Canada? Here in the US, over 2.4 million are sold per year, just curious how the Canadian numbers compare. . . .
__________________
-Behind every argument is someone’s ignorance.
-Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
I agree SILVERado, I think they were available early Feb. I wrote this comparison <forgot the link> http://www.toyotanation.com/forum/t178303.html on Feb 8th, and I know the trucks had been out at least a week. Maybe the south got most of the first shipments, it is "truck country" afterall. . . . .
Either way, it is way too early to gage the Tundras launch (successful or otherwise). I think by the May sales results we should have a good indication of how the Tundra is doing. By then the "new" will have worn off and there will have been plenty on dealers lots. We'll have to wait and see.
__________________
-Behind every argument is someone’s ignorance.
-Never underestimate the power of stupid people in large groups.
I'm going to wait to see sales numbers, this article gave a lot of figures, but not any sales figures. I think this article pretty much states what was expected. Who doesn't expect Tundra owners to hurry to buy the new one.
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