Toyota Tundra Future to Hinge on Fuel Economy

When the 2014 Toyota Tundra was unveiled during the Chicago Auto Show last February, it arrived without any mechanical changes.

Instead, the truck debuted with cosmetic enhancements. The company also announced a new “1794 Edition” that comes with premium materials meant as an answer to American luxury trucks.

Toyota sells a fraction of the trucks that Ram – the lowest volume of the Detroit 3 – does and major changes to the Tundra aren’t likely soon. Despite that, Toyota hasn’t written off the possibility of beefing up its truck portfolio.

Speaking with Edmunds, Toyota sales executive Paul Holdrige said the Tundra’s next major redesign will come sometime after 2018 when the next wave of CAFE standards are made clear.

2014 Toyota Trundra Review

“We are working real hard trying to figure out what the CAFE regulations for 2018 are going to be because that will have a huge determination on what power plants (and) what alternative power plants we might have to put in the truck to participate in half-, 3/4 and the one-ton truck market,” Holdrige said.

Currently, the Tundra only competes in the half-ton class, although Toyota is weighing the possibility of offering larger gross vehicle weight trucks. It will all depend on U.S. government fuel economy mandates.

In the interim, Holdrige says Toyota is planning further updates to the current Tundra, including a possible increase in payload capacity.