Author Archive for Jason Lancaster
Jason Lancaster is the editor and founder of TundraHeadquarters.com. He has nearly a decade of experience on the retail side of the auto industry, and another decade of experience of the part and accessory side of the industry.
NHTSA Blocking Release of Study Says Former Official
Last week, The Wall Street Journal interviewed recently retired National Highway Transportation Safety Administration (NHTSA) official George Person who alleges that:
- NHTSA’s investigation of so-called “runaway” Toyotas is complete
- After studying 40 alleged instances of sudden, unintended acceleration, NHTSA determined 23 of these reports were plausible
- After reading the engine data recorder in each of these 23 vehicles, EVERY recorder showed that the vehicle’s throttle was wide open at the time of the crash
If this former head of NHTSA’s recall division is correct, NHTSA’s study is done…and it has found that Toyota has no electronic throttle problems.
Tundra Sales Up 40% in July, 28.5% For The Year
Toyota’s July 2010 sales figures (released yesterday) show that the Tundra continues to sell at an above-average rate in 2010. This is a good sign – not only of the Tundra’s value, but that the pickup truck market continues to accelerate.
In fact, this might even be a sign that the economy is recovering. Some economists say that truck sales are tightly linked to construction, which is linked to investment. Who knows if this is true, but it’s a good thing to think about.
2014 Tundra – New Look, Bigger Gas Tank, But What Else?
In a Wall Street Journal article, the head engineer for the next-gen Toyota Tundra program offered some comments about what Toyota has planned for the new Tundra in 2014. You can read the article here.
We’ve decided that the best way to keep track of planned 2014 Tundra enhancement and upgrades is to create a page dedicated to the next-gen Tundra. Visit our new 2014 Toyota Tundra page to read about new features that the next Tundra will definitely have, features we think it will probably have, and features we’ve heard that it may have.
The new 2014 Tundra page will be updated regularly, so be sure to bookmark it!
Sequoia Rumored To Be On Life Support
Yesterday, PickupTrucks.com reported that the Sequoia will probably be cancelled at the end of the current model’s cycle. Intrigued, we made some calls and spoke to a few people who have been in the know in the past. While they agree that cancelling the Sequoia is both logical and probable, our Toyota sources say that this decision has yet to be made.
The reason? The Sequoia retains a significant chunk of the market – anywhere from 20-30%. Our sources say that Toyota is reluctant to walk away from any segment where they have a decent performer. You can see the numbers below for more info.
Who’s Lying – An Anonymous NHTSA Employee or The WSJ?
Last week, The Wall Street Journal (WSJ) reported that the early results of the NHTSA investigation into “runaway” Toyotas found that the problem was driver error. This wasn’t shocking information – we’ve been saying that driver error is the cause of these incidents for months.
However, this story has taken an interesting turn. An anonymous source at the Department of Transportation (the branch of the government that oversees NHSTA) told Just-Auto.com last week that the story in the WSJ was planted by Toyota.
Mike Ramsey, the reporter at the WSJ, has denied this allegation and said that he viewed NHTSA data when making his report. Toyota has denied these allegations as well.
The facts are that either:
- An anonymous NHTSA employee incorrectly claimed that Toyota planted a story, or
- A reporter at The Wall Street Journal did someone at Toyota a favor and ran a story that was completely false
The question is, who’s lying?
