GM (GM) and Ford (F) have had problems selling their Silverado and F-series pick-ups because fuel prices and falling home values have slowed the traffic to dealerships.
The problem has caught up to Toyota (TM) which launched it uber-pick-up, the Tundra, to much fanfare. The Japanese company believed that it could take share away from its US competition in the most lucrative product segment, further weakening their ability to compete.
It has not been that easy. Toyota has announced that it will offer $3,500 rebates on the truck along with all sorts of nifty interest-free financing.
Toyota continues to do well with small, more fuel-efficient cars, but its debut in the truck field has, so far, been a failure. It may be that the segment is a more "buy American" crowd, and that is a lock that is hard to pick.
Douglas A. McIntyre can be reached at [email protected]. He does not own securities in companies that he writes about.
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