Tundra Sales Delayed A Month

The '07 Toyota Tundra will go on sale in the U.S. in “early or mid-February,” not January as had been widely expected.

“We want to make sure everything is perfect,” a company spokeswoman says. The pickup originally was to go on sale in late 2006, then was delayed until early 2007, purportedly to avoid the distraction of the holidays.

“We won't be adding that many Tundras to the mix” this year, a Toyota manufacturing spokesman says. “It'll be a pretty slow ramp-up, and everything kicks in in January and February.”

A second shift will begin in San Antonio in March, he says. Production is due to start Nov. 17 in San Antonio, with the Tundra coming online at Toyota's Princeton, IN, plant in January.

Toyota is delaying the market intro until February so it can be sure all U.S. dealers have at least one Tundra to sell, a source tells Ward's.

Gary Convis, executive vice president-Toyota Motor Engineering and Mfg. North America, denies there have been issues with finding qualified applicants to fill the Texas jobs, especially those at 21 onsite suppliers.

Ward's reported in June some of the co-located suppliers were having difficulty filling the 2,000 open positions. As of mid-June, just 800 had been hired.