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North America’s taste for petrol means it’s unlikely we will see a turbo-diesel Tundra in Australia
Toyota Motor Corporation Australia (TMCA) has confirmed that it’s very unlikely the company will bring in a turbo-diesel engine for its new Tundra large-sized pickup truck.
Speaking with Chasing Cars at the first Australian drive of the new Tundra, Ray Munday, senior manager of vehicle evaluation and regulations at TMCA, said that the Tundra would retain its I-Force Max hybrid turbocharged V6 petrol engine, rather than add the current Land Cruiser 300 Series twin-turbocharged diesel V6 engine.
“I would say it’s very unlikely … [the American Market] is still very much a gasoline market …. It would require a shift in the North American market to want a diesel,” Munday said.
The Tundra is built on the same TNGA-F platform as the Land Cruiser 300 Series and Lexus LX as well as the overseas market Toyota Tacoma and future Land Cruiser Prado.
Being on the same platform, it could be relatively easy for Toyota to use a different engine, such as the twin-turbo diesel V6, given the TNGA-F cars also use a 10-speed automatic transmission.
Toyota Australia’s Munday also told Chasing Cars that it is anticipating feedback from Australian customers on using a petrol engine for towing and hauling rather than a turbo-diesel unit.
“In Australia, that’ll be an interesting bit of feedback for customers to feel, because they are very diesel-focused for towing.
“Diesel has several reasons. It’s efficient for long, heavy road towing, and secondly, it’s the preferred fuel because of fire risk of storage,” Munday said.
“We’re not seeing them being used as farm trucks, they are highway haulers,” he added.
Toyota Australia is currently conducting an evaluation test with Australian customers to get feedback on the American pickup truck.
Customers will lease 300 Tundras and will need to report back to Toyota regarding livability and any challenges faced during their tenure with the vehicle.
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