This is the first Toyota for millionaires.
Statistically speaking, it’s highly unlikely Toyota Australia has you in mind for the new Tundra pick-up.
The Texas-sized slab of Americana is a niche machine for cashed up folks with a shed full of toys.
Pitched as a “premium towing vehicle”, the Tundra is designed to recognise which of your many trailers is hitched at any given time and adjust its driving parameters to suit.
Wealthy owners will be able to store separate preferences for their horse float, ski boat, caravan and race car, saving each trailer’s weight and length information inside the Tundra’s dashboard.
As with Chevrolet, RAM and Ford, Toyota is more than convinced there is a strong business case for big American pick-ups in Australia.
Designed for folks who owned HiLux or LandCruiser hardware before ditching them to upgrade to better tow vehicles, the Tundra can tow a full tonne more than most dual-cab utes. It promises to pull 4.5 tonnes with a minimum of fuss – and Toyota’s local department de-rated its towing capacity from higher overseas limits so that you can operate the vehicle with a conventional car licence.
After all, it weighs nearly eight tonnes when loaded up and pulling a heavy trailer.
Powered by a 3.5-litre twin-turbocharged petrol V6, the big unit will only be offered locally in high-grade hybrid trim.
The 290kW, 649Nm V6 works with a 36kW/250Nm electric motor to send a combined 326kW and 790Nm to the tyres through a 10-speed automatic transmission.
Three of those gears are overdriven to help keep fuel use under control on the highway, stretching the legs of its 122-litre petrol tank.
Toyota can’t confirm official economy figures or retail prices for the model, which is not expected to go on sale within the next 12 months.
About 300 customers will have a chance to lease pre-production examples of the pick-up as part of a pilot program that represents the last stage of a convoluted approval process set out by Toyota management.
Toyota builds the Tundra in the US as a left-hand-drive machine and ships it to Melbourne’s Walkinshaw Automotive outfit where it is converted to right-hand-drive.
Toyota engineer Ray Munday is reluctant to use the C-word when discussing the local process, which represents a significant effort.
“Everyone likes to call a project like this a conversion,” he said.
“It’s an inadequate word that completely underestimates the complexity and the breadth of engineering.”
The five-year-long Tundra project is the first of its kind from Toyota, and is made possible by a platform shared with the latest LandCruiser 300 series.
The brand has not officially signed off on sale of vehicles to the public, though that is surely a formality given the enormous investment in the project.
Toyota Australia executive Sean Hanley says the brand’s local arm is “completely confident” in its ability to lock in production approval from Toyota in Japan and the US.
“We’re certainly not doing this not to launch the car,” he said.
Engineers were able to fast-track development of the Tundra for local use by pinching hardware from the latest LandCruiser, including braking and cabin ventilation systems.
Australian examples of the Tundra are high-grade “Limited” versions with sophisticated 360-degree cameras, heated and cooled leather seats, a JBL stereo and oversized digital displays.
It’s unlikely to cost less than $150,000 drive-away when official approval is granted, but that won’t be a problem for the cashed-up folks who need a better rig to tow their toys.