Toyota Keeping Cool Despite Slow Tundra Sales

Washington DC February 21, 2008; The AIADA newsletter reported that despite sales of its Tundra full-size pickup falling short of expectations in January, Toyota is not worried about meeting its annual objective. Last year, the Tundra's better sales months were in the 18,000 to 22,000 range. But January's mark of 12,073 was well below that. On an annualized basis, that comes to an 185,000-unit clip, well below the 200,000-plus mark Toyota has set for 2008.

"I learned from (former Toyota boss) Bob McCurry to never make long-term decisions based on January and February business," Jim Lentz, president of Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A., told Automotive News. "We're not pushing the panic button." January is a slow month for Toyota trucks, usually representing about 6.5 percent of the annual sales mark, Lentz said in an interview.

"We have plenty of time to recover from 185,000 up to 200,000. We're comfortable with where we are," Lentz said. Toyota will not pile on the incentives in reaction to a slow January, adding that, "Typically we follow Detroit (in launching incentives), we don't lead."