Toyota Lets Its Hair Down
So pickup fans, do you like what Toyota is doing with your mode de transportation? The world's best capitalized automaker is feeling bullish after yet another banner year, with 2003 being its eighth consecutive sales record and with the highest numbers in its 46 years of existence.
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| With Toyota feeling bullish, will something like the flashy FTX be the future Tundra pickup replacement? (Photo: Toyota Canada) |
So it makes sense its designers are letting their collective hair down and considering replacing their Tundra pickup's staid three-piece bodywork for something a little flashier. Whether anything close to this FTX concept shows up in a Toyota dealer's showroom anytime soon is anyone's guess. But at the very least they're testing the waters.
Or maybe it's more than that. According to Toyota the FTX concept "was designed to provide a hint to the direction in size, and styling of Toyota's next big-truck platform."
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| "The FTX concept was developed to make a bold statement about Toyota's future full-size pickup truck plans." (Photo: Toyota Canada) |
Why not? After all, the Tundra is a great truck that often gets forgotten by mainstream pickup buyers just because it doesn't really stand out. Nissan's Titan, much to do with its bold styling, is the talk of the construction site. Being that the pickup vertical is toughest for imports to overcome, word of mouth on the street can only help sales.
"The FTX concept was developed to make a bold statement about Toyota's future full-size pickup truck plans," stated Toyota's chief operating officer Jim Press during the truck's debut at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit this week. "It is a statement that promises the brute-power to match its bold styling and its simple proportions. And it's a statement we mean to back up."