Toyota Tundra under consideration for Australia

Toyota Australia says it is studying potential for the next-generation Tundra pick-up to be sold here as a right-hand drive offering imported directly from the US.

The Japanese giant’s US arm has piqued the interest of right-hand drive markets including Australia this week with news it will invest $A573 million to upgrade its San Antonio production facility.

Chiefly, the move has prompted speculation the next-generation Tundra will become a ‘global model’ built from factory in both left-hand drive and right-hand drive specification.

The business case for full-size pick-ups has arguably never been stronger in Australia, given the first-hand success of RAM Trucks and the Chevrolet Silverado, which are ‘remanufactured’ to right-hand drive by Walkinshaw Automotive Group’s facility in Clayton, Victoria, not to mention countless other conversion operations dotted throughout the country.

Separately, Nissan Australia has confirmed it is assessing potential for local right-hand drive conversion of the Titan pick-up.

Speaking with carsales, a Toyota Australia spokesman said the Australian arm was closely examining the business case for next-gen Tundra.

“From our point of view, it’s still something that we’re studying. We’re not in a position to comment and confirm anything at this stage,” he said.

“We see it’s a segment that’s growing, there’s a lot of interest in it. Generally speaking our preference would be to get something from the factory.

“It wouldn’t be a significant volume, so we need to look at what other markets it would go to outside of Australia.”

Toyota’s decision to upgrade its San Antonio plant and develop the next Tundra on a new platform that could underpin the US-spec Tacoma and even the HiLux, coincides with strong speculation that Ford plans to make its next-generation F-150 a global model, just as it did so successfully with the Mustang.

For its part, Toyota in the US has confirmed upgrades to the factory will “make the plant even more competitive in the long-term and more efficient while remaining flexible with multi-vehicle production capabilities by introducing various advanced manufacturing technologies”.

The Aussie Toyota spokesman said of the right-hand drive prospects: “I don’t believe that’s been confirmed from anything I’ve heard, but I wouldn’t rule it out. It’s all part of the study that needs to be done.”

Toyota's interest in a full-size pick-up is supported by ongoing demand from its customers for big tow vehicles, as evidenced by the unabashed success of the LandCruiser 200 Series.

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