Top 2015 Truck Story Lines to Watch
In the next day or so, the first sales results of 2015 are due. While, we don’t expect many surprises, we do wonder how the year will play out. There are many new competitors coming to the market, shifts in production and new truck unveils on the horizon. Here are the story lines we will be following.
A big surprise for Toyota is the sales rate of their 1794 pickup. We expect it continue to sell well in 2015.
U.S. Ford F-Series Annually Crushes Toyota Tundra Sales And Nobody Cares
Editor’s note: This post was inspired by a reader email that echoes a commonly held – yet completely uninformed – point of view.
Each year, U.S. Ford F-series sales crush the total sales of the Toyota Tundra and nobody, I repeat NO ONE, at Toyota really cares. Why? How can that be? Gasp, why wouldn’t Toyota want to be the GREATEST truck maker in North America?!? Simple. It doesn’t make any sense and the “Best Selling Truck in America” name isn’t accurate. Here’s why.
This Ford F-650’s sales numbers compete against the half-ton Toyota Tundra’s sales numbers.
Edmunds.com Sledge Hammers New 2015 F-150 Body Panel, Determines Repair is Dramatically More
One of the biggest questions surrounding the new 2015 F-150 is on repairability. Will the new F-150 cost a substantial amount more money to repair than steel? While we don’t preciously know because repair facilities and damage varies, Edmunds.com took its best shot at finding out. The videos really speak for themselves.
With a sledge hammer in hand, Edmunds damaged their new F-150 in order to answer the repair question.
Toyota’s Cautious Truck Future, 2015 Toyota Tundra TRD PRO Plows New Headquarters
The future of Toyota trucks in North America is at a pretty interesting crossroads right now and breaking ground at a new Texas headquarters with a TRD PRO shines a bit spotlight on it. What does 2015 and on look like for Toyota’s truck plans? Here is what we know.
Toyota breaks ground on new Texas headquarters with a Tundra TRD PRO equipped with a plow.
Atkinson Variable Displacement V8 Coming To The Tundra
A note from the Editor: with the new Tacoma coming to market with an Atkinson cycle engine, we thought it made sense to republish this older post that explains how it works.
When rumors of a V8 Lexus coupe with “variable displacement” hit the automotive press a few months ago, I was more than a little skeptical. Quite a few Toyota employees have said that the typical variable displacement technologies employed by GM and Chrysler-Fiat are “not in the best interests of the consumer,” which is Toyota-speak for “variable displacement is a stupid gimmick,” at least when GM and Chrysler-Fiat do it.
Considering all the problems GM trucks have had with their active fuel management systems (which can consume 1-2 quarts of oil between changes), Toyota’s stance makes sense. Yet a number of sources claimed Toyota’s new V8 Lexus coupe would have variable displacement technology, and I found myself a bit dismayed. Would Toyota succumb to the allure of variable displacement systems that raises a vehicle’s EPA rating without any real-world benefits?
Today’s announcement from Toyota about a new family of “thermally efficient” engines all but guarantees that the Tundra will be getting a variable displacement V8, similar to the system found on the new Lexus RC F 5.0L V8 (shown).
Fortunately, the answer is no. The new Lexus RC F comes with a 5.0L V8 that can operate both as a traditional Otto cycle engine and as an efficient Atkinson cycle engine, which – in a manner of speaking – means the engine is variable displacement. When you combine this news with today’s announcement from Toyota about a “new series of gas engines,” it’s safe to say that the Tundra will be getting a variable displacement V8. Probably in the next 2 years. Read more…
