Toyota, Nissan Revamp Small Pickup Trucks to Boost U.S. Market Share

Toyota Motor Corp. and Nissan Motor Co. will begin selling redesigned small pickup trucks in the America in the next four months to regain market share in a shrinking vehicle category.Sales are slated to start in October for Toyota’s Tacoma and in December for Nissan’s Frontier.They compete with Ford Motor Co.’s Ranger, the top seller among small pickups, General Motors Corp.’s Chevrolet Colorado, and DaimlerChrysler AG’s Dodge Dakota.“The new vehicles from Toyota and Nissan should pull market share from the older stuff that’s out there,” said Wes Brown, an analyst at Los Angeles-based Iceology, which sells consumer-trend data to automakers. “This segment is where a lot of first time owners come in, so the manufacturers want a strong presence.”Asian automakers sold 55% of small pickups in America in 1985, according to WardsAuto.com.That percentage this year through July was 36%.Total sales of small pickups fell almost a third to 731,299 last year from 2000, according to Autodata Corp.Toyota’s Tacoma was the only small pickup to increase sales last year, with a 1.4% gain to 154,154. Tacoma sales this year through July rose 6.7% to 94,011. Sales of Nissan’s Frontier fell 13% to 65,161 last year and rose 16% to 40,696 this year through July.Large pickups such as the Chevrolet Silverado, some with prices as low as $20,000, have crowded out sales of small pickups.American sales of large pickups, dominated by Ford’s F- Series, General Motors’ Silverado, and Daimler-Chrysler’s Dodge Ram, rose to 2.34 million last year from 2.22 million in 2002, according to Ward’s.TOYOTA TACOMAToyota expects annual sales of 170,000 for the redesigned 2005 Tacoma, a 10% increase from the 2003 total. The redesigned model will come in 18 combinations of cab configuration, bed size, and off-road capability, Bob Carter, vice president of sales in America for the Toyota division, told reporters at an August 12 meeting in Romulus, Mich.The Toyota City, Japan-based automaker, whose American sales unit has its headquarters in Torrance, Calif., boosted the power of the Taco ma’s biggest engine, a 240-horsepower, six-cylinder model, 26%.The new Tacoma, which shares a chassis and other major components with the Lexus GX470 sport-utility vehicle, is six inches longer and four inches wider than the current model.That should help reduce rollover accidents, Mr. Carter said.The U.S. National Highway Traffic Safety Administration in ratings released this month said the current four-wheel-drive extended-cab Tacoma can be expected to roll over in 28.3% of accidents that don’t involve another vehicle.That was the highest percentage for any pickup.NISSAN FRONTIERNissan’s redesigned 2005 Frontier shares major components with the automaker’s Titan large pickup.The redesigned Frontier’s 265-horsepower V-6 engine is 26% more powerful than the engine in the current model sold by Tokyo-based Nissan.DaimlerChrysler’s Chrysler unit redesigned the 2005 Dakota pickup that debuts this year.General Motors in December 2003 began selling its new Colorado and GMC Canyon small pickups.Ford introduced the major design elements of its Ranger small pickup in 1992.The company doesn’t plan a major redesign until the end of the decade, said an analyst at CSM Worldwide Inc. in Farmington Hills, Mich., Mike Robinet.Ranger sales fell 21% to 101,163 in this year’s first seven months. Marketing manager Shawn McDermott said Ford intends to keep refreshing the Ranger’s looks and declined to provide details. For now, he said, Ford is emphasizing the Ranger’s value. The least expensive 2005 Ranger, with a 143-horsepower four-cylinder engine, costs $14,985, Mr. McDermott said. Ford now offers a $500 rebate on that model. In coming months, the rebate probably will move closer to the industry average of $3,200, he said.

Toyota, Nissan Revamp Small Pickup Trucks to Boost U.S. Market Share

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