New Toyota Tundra looking good for Australia

The chances of the next-generation Toyota Tundra pick-up, which will be released in North America late next year, becoming officially available in Australia appear to be gaining ground.

Speaking at today’s media launch of the upgraded 2021 Toyota HiLux, Toyota Australia sales and marketing chief Sean Hanley was asked if the local market leader had been caught out by not having a representative in the booming full-size pick-up sector.

“It’s a great question,” he said. “This is something I’ve commented on before in relation to this market.

“We continue to study the market potential and opportunity in Australia for a larger ute offering [than HiLux].

“We certainly have no confirmation. I can tell you we have no announcements to make at this meeting.”

When a car company executive says they have no announcement to make about a certain topic, it usually means it’s a done deal but the car-maker isn’t ready state that publicly for a variety of reasons.

Hanley has previously made no secret of the fact Toyota Australia is attempting to make a business case for the next-generation Tundra, which could be topped by a diret rival for the new Ford F-150 Raptor and all-new RAM 1500 TRX and powered by a 450kW twin-turbo V8 monster.

If it’s successful, it would be the first time North America’s popular Tundra was officially sold by Toyota in Australia, and the first time a car-maker has delivered a full-size pick-up in right-hand drive direct from the US factory.

Hanley has also previously told us the Toyota Tundra would only be officially sold here in that form, rather than locally converted RHD by a formally-sanctioned third-party company, as is the case with the RAM and Chevrolet Silverado, both of which are developed and re-engineered by the Walkinshaw Automotive Group.

The new-generation DT-series RAM 1500 is already offered here by at least one independent importer/converter, SCD Remanufactured Vehicles in Brisbane, and will be officially released by RAM Trucks Australia late this year.

Nissan is investigating a similar arrangement with its older Titan, the latest Chevrolet Silverado will continue to available via GM Specialty Vehicles and the recently-revealed new Ford F-150 will be converted and sold here by the likes of Performax and Harrison F-Trucks, but could eventually be sold here in factory RHD form by Ford.

Hanley has previously stated he believes Australia’s full-size pick-up segment will continue to grow, despite the overall market decline and record sales currently being led by RAM.

And he repeatedly stated today that the new Toyota Tundra’s official Australian release depends on enough demand to justify the costs associated with introducing and supporting an all-new model.

Given Australia is the now the world’s largest market for right-hand drive utes, Toyota Australia’s business case could also dictate whether the new Tundra becomes a global model produced in both LHD and RHD, for which it’s already likely to be ‘package-protected’ given production is less than 18 months away.

“It all wraps around… a business case that makes sense for the Australian market, so we continue to study this opportunity to see what options are available for Toyota in Australia,” said Hanley today.

“As I said, we’ve got nothing to say today at all and in fact there are no confirmed plans that I can give you today at all, except to say that we’ll continue to study that market and if there’s some way possible, if the business case makes sense, then we’ll explore that further.

“In answer to the question have we been caught out, no we haven’t. We are carefully studying the Australian market and the opportunities.”