2007 Toyota Tundra

The gloves are off at Toyota. After a couple of false starts, Toyota now has a laser-lock on the cash cows of Chrysler, GM, and Ford: full-size trucks. And it's gone right to the heartland of truck culture to get it right this time, building a brand-new factory in San Antonio, Texas, to manufacture a truck codenamed 400N, the bigger, bolder, tougher replacement for the Tundra that's due to go on sale next year as a 2007 model.

As these scoop pictures show, the new Tundra will be at least as big, if not slightly bigger, than Ram, F-150, and GM's forthcoming GMT 900 trucks. Under the disguise is sheetmetal that takes cues from the aggressive FTX concept first seen at the 2004 Detroit show. This version is the crew cab; expect extended and regular cab versions as well, with a number of bed lengths and wheelbases. (Photos at the bottom of the page show an extended cab version with a bedcap installed as additional disguise.)

Such FTX innovations as tow hooks integrated into the bumpers and hideaway bed tie-downs are likely to make it to production, according to insiders who say the new truck is full of such features. The FTX concept also showed a V-8/hybrid drivetrain, which is expected for production, and Toyota is working on a high-torque turbodiesel to enable the Tundra to go wheel to wheel with Detroit's heavy-duty models.

The San Antonio plant's capacity is 150,000 vehicles a year--hardly enough to steal segment leadership away from Ford, which last year sold almost 940,000 F-Series trucks. But although America's appetite for big trucks shows no sign of slowing, a more competitive Toyota product is almost certainly going to squeeze profit margins in what's traditionally been Detroit's most lucrative vehicle segment.