The Toyota Tundra sold very well in the first part of 2014 while Toyota's sales overall declined. Here's why.
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A popular Toyota Tundra story we did recently asking the rhetorical question "why is the Tundra selling so well" received great feedback from readers answering the question. A little background is in order before we list out why the Tundra is selling so strongly.
Throughout last year Toyota's sales generally were up up up. Then in December the sales curve flattened. This January and February sales went down. The decrease was not uniform across the line though. The Prius went waaay down, but many models were up. The Tundra was one of those models. Here are the reasons we have found to justify the Tundra's strong run.
Tundra Reliability
The first and most thorough of our readers to respond was Patrick. He says that Ford dropped the ball with the infotainment mess they made with My Ford Touch and Synch. That got truck buyers like him looking around. Having owned a Chevy that gave him fits due to repair costs, Patrick tried a Tundra, fell in love, and has not looked back. This is just one person's opinion, so it isn't the final word. However, Toyota trucks been ranked tops in resale value and the Toyota brand wins pretty much every reliability study done. So maybe Patrick isn't so far off.
Tundra Gets It Done
A recent advertisement-type press release caught our eye. A dealership for Toyotas put it out saying that in their opinion the reason the Tundra is up is that Toyota has shed the wimpy truck reputation it fell into with prior truck models released before the Tundra. Now, with its strong V8 and respectable towing rating the Tundra is clearly a strong truck that can and does meet the needs of buyers.
Two Years Free Maintenance
Toyota's current advertisements for the Tundra are pushing the free maintenance the truck, and all Toyotas, now comes with. Tis should not be ignored as a reason the Tundra is doing well. A fixed cost of ownership that is lower than comparable competitors is a strong enticement to those who care about the economics of their truck purchase.
Brand Loyalty
We don't want to go negative here, but more than one comment pointed out that there is some bad blood over the GM bailout and now the ignition failure deaths that are in the news. Toyota itself struggled with the unintended acceleration issue a few years ago, but seems to emerged from that. Let's just say that Toyota does have a lot of prior owners with positive experiences that return to the brand looking for trucks. Perhaps the competitors are presently not so blessed.
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