Toyota Tundra business case firms for Oz

TOYOTA Australia is continuing to move ahead with its locally converted right-hand drive Tundra trial, the full-size American-sourced pick-up now entering its third month with select customers participating in the so-called Tundra Insider Program.

Speaking with Australian motoring media this week, Toyota Australia vice president of sales, marketing, and franchise operations Sean Hanley said quality issues found during the trial have been small in nature, and that signs are positive the Tundra will launch in the local market soon.

“We’re in contact with 189 different customers on a regular basis and our quality issues have been low. We’ve had a couple of small things, some from the donor vehicle, and some just pure warranty things that we’ve had to address, but nothing major,” he detailed.

“We’ve had a few little things come up from a result of the conversion, again nothing major. So, it’s proving to be a really good exercise for us, because we’re able to get these things fixed at Walkinshaw’s and re-evaluate what we’re doing.

“There have been no major failures, which is good. It has been incredibly encouraging for us, and looking more and more positive that we’ll get approval to launch this car in the near future.”

When pressed on launch timing for the Tundra, Mr Hanley said he hopes to have a firm decision made before the end of the calendar year.

“(It will) not be in the near future, but I hope by the end of this year to have some news on that – we haven’t done all of this not to launch it, but we still have a way to go (with the evaluation program),” he continued.

“This is a legitimate trial, it’s not a PR stunt. We are correcting our findings (as we go) because we want this Tundra to be as close to OE specification for our customers as we can get it based on a local conversion.”

Mr Hanley said the Tundra was being evaluated as an on-road and heavy-duty towing vehicle and not as a replacement to the 70 Series LandCruiser which will continue as a vehicle for mixed on- and off-road, and mining and agricultural use.

“One of the things we don’t want to portray with Tundra is that it has 70 Series-like off-road capability. It’s not that kind of truck – and we don’t want to portray it to be that,” he added.

The news comes just days after the Tundra and related Lexus GX600 were recalled in North America over an issue relating to excessive wear of the 3.5-litre (VA35 series) twin-turbocharged petrol engine.

It is understood the sleeve of the front main bearing cap is affected by machining debris causing premature wear – and in some cases engine failure. As a result, Toyota is recalling approximately 102,000 examples of the Tundra and Lexus LX produced between 2022 and 2023.

According to documents filed with the US National Highway Traffic Safety Administration (NHTSA), affected vehicles may experience engine knocking, rough running, inability to start, and/or a loss of power.

It is understood the petrol-electric hybrid version of the Tundra – the one taking part in the Australian trial – is not affected by the recall. Toyota North America said it is currently working on a solution and will contact affected owners by July

Mr Hanley reaffirmed that hybrid-powered Australian trial models were not impacted by the North American recall.

“(There are no issues), no. Not that I am aware of … I am not aware of any implication sitting here right now. If there was, I would let you know, and should that change we will definitely let the market know,” he added.

“If it turns out that is an issue for Tundra, we could probably sort that prior to selling it.”