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Toyota touts Tundra's toys
Richard Truett
Automotive News
August 7, 2007 - 2:32 pm EST


TRAVERSE CITY, Mich. -- Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. is counting on a huge line of dealer-installed performance and appearance accessories to boost sales of the new full-sized Tundra pickup.

Mike O'Brien, Toyota's manager for corporate planning, says dealers' ability to close the deal can increase as much as 25 percent when buyers can choose from such things as bigger wheels, bedliners, interior trim upgrades and other accessories.

O'Brien spoke Tuesday during a panel discussion on vehicle customization at the Management Briefing Seminars in Traverse City, Mich.

Toyota worked hard to understand how Tundra buyers would use the new truck -- Toyota's biggest pickup ever -- and then created a line of accessories that dealers could sell, O'Brien says. Some of the parts are manufactured by Toyota, while others are built by suppliers that Toyota provided with technical data.

Toyota designers and engineers, O'Brien said, went to ranches, mining camps, construction sites, ski resorts, farms and observed how trucks were being used. They quizzed snow plow drivers, for instance, and made sure the Tundra's frame could accommodate a plow. "What we learned was we needed to build in strong capabilities. That had to be the foundation," O'Brien said.

Buyers are looking for one-stop shopping when it comes to customizing their vehicles, said John Waraniak, vice president of vehicle technology for SEMA, the Specialty Equipment Manufacturers Association. They like the convenience of customizing their vehicles with factory approved parts, having dealers install the item and then rolling the cost into the vehicle loan.

According to SEMA, the pickup segment accounts for about $11.5 billion a year of the $36.5 billion consumers spend yearly to personalize their vehicles.



Source: www.autonews.com