So much for toyota going green

Kudos to GM if their research pans out.... and it's not a PR sham with only 10000 units involved for example.

http://www.autonews.com/apps/pbcs.dll/arti...11/1003&refsect

One by one if these Big Rigs can advance 25-40% in FE it's fantastically benficial for all of us. Bring diesel into the equation and all these dwarf the benfits from the Prius.

But the Prius ( along with the Insight ) brought the idea into reality originally. It has lead the charge and taken the brunt of all the skeptics and negativists. For this Toyota should be ever commended for putting such an exceptionally designed and capable vehicle on the road.

 

Not sure about the environmentally friendly aspect of it, but they do have the Tacoma which is EPA rated at 20/27 or 21/26 depending on the engine.

 

The full-size truck market is by far the most loyal group of owners i know of, it will be interesting to see how this battle plays out.

 

If my memory serves me, wasn't there an uproar from environmental groups about the ford Excursion being 10" longer than the Suburban? Wasn't this uproar picked up by major media outlets for weeks on end? Why is there silence when toyota is coming to market with a pickup which is 10" longer than anything else? Do I sense a double standard or is the Prius giving Toyota another get-out-of-jail free card?

 

Well, let's see. The most popular vehicle in America is the Ford F150 truck. So, if I were a big automaker trying to make money in America, what would I build?

The Prius is a great car and I love mine, but when I have a bunch of dogs to haul (whose bathroom habits may, let us say, "fall short of the ideal") you can bet I don't load them into my Prius. I throw wide the doors of my rubberized Honda Element, which only gets about 20 mpg.

I applaud Toyota for their environmental efforts but I also want them to prosper. Limiting their lineup to any single kind of car, as GM virtually did, is suicide. (Didn't the Irish potato famine teach GM anything?) Given the lead time in developing a car or truck, you can't plan to wait and see what happens to the price of gas and then adjust your lineup. You have to hedge your bets.

In the world of cars, greenness is all relative. I'd say that Toyota is substantially more green than GM at this point, and that's as much as I expect. I don't expect them to operate as a charity in the interest of environmentality.

Jan

 

oh i know half the people who buy one won't need it. unless of course you mean in a compensatory manner... :huh: :lol:

i half grew up on a farm. i know the agricultural applications well. i also know the finances of most farmers today. yes, i fully understand the situation. but how freakin' huge must these things get? seriously. when they have to come and measure the service bays to see if the thing will fit... i think there's a line to draw right there.

 

Doc, judging from Toyota's early marketing efforts on the new Tundra, I don't think they are going after the ag and heavy use market. Toyota will not offer a heavy duty model or any type of big-block engine or diesel option. Chevy Ford and Dodge commercial application and ag trucks are all heavier duty than what Toyota plans to offer. toyota is going after the macho, crew cab market. notice the quote from Jim Press:"the biggest badass pickup". Again so much for the 'green' company.

The 2007 Toyota Tundra will NOT be used to tow 10 head of cattle or 20 round bails of hay, at least not too many times.

 

oh yeah. malorn's post reminds me.

do you really know how freakin' big those bales are?

you couldn't fit 20 of them on ANYTHING! :lol:

 

I'm amused that anyone should think that Toyota is in the business of cleaning up the environment or saving the planet. Toyota, like any other corporation, is in the business of making money. But Toyota is one of only two car companies that saw that there was a demand for hybrids, with their great potential for efficiency.

The wonderful thing about Toyota is not that it is a green company. The wonderful thing is that it saw the profit potential and offered consumers a no-compromises, SULEV, PZEV hybrid.

No corporation is going to save the planet. But thanks to Toyota, those of us who want to drive a clean, fuel-efficient, fun hybrid, can do so. Those who want to continue to burn their grandchildren's patrimony can do that also. No corporation cares. They'll sell us what they think we want to buy. I'm grateful to Toyota for offering the car that I want to drive.

Oh, and... hello all... I'm back from my vacation... I suppose I'll post something in Fred's...

 

A poster on another forum made a good point about the lack of info on this new vehicle. Likely it's intentional since the new Tundra will only arrive in 12 months and Chevy has it's new truck coming out sooner. Why tip your hand sooner than necessary.

Let's just say that the 2500 version and turbo-diesel version and hybrid version are close behind. When ULSD is available everywhere and the Free Trade agreement with Thailand is concluded you can expect the market to be flooded with diesel trucks from Toyota and Nissan.

 

Rrriiiiggghhhttt. Because truck buyers care whether they get 16 or 18 mpg. It is impressive that you have talked to every single person about their impressions about fuel economy. From the experience of those that I know with a truck (many have them in my hometown), they care very little about FE and mostly about performance. No matter who efficient it is, I highly doubt that it will make up for it if isn't enough "truck" for them.


I may have been unique, but the first company I saw adversiting them having good fuel economy was GM, not Toyota.