Toyota and Walkinshaw’s other Aussie project

Toyota and Walkinshaw are teaming up on and off the racetrack.

Lost amid the excitement of the duo’s Supercars announcement, Toyota also confirmed the Tundra US ute for sale locally after nearly a year of real-world testing from an initial batch of owners. Toyota Australia partnered with Walkinshaw Automotive Group (WAG), which is a separate business to Walkinshaw Andretti United but undoubtedly helped facilitate the deal between the two parties to go racing.

The decision to offer the Tundra locally came amid rising sales of the Chevrolet Silverado and Ram 1500 rivals (both of which are also converted to right-hand drive by WAG) as well as the introduction of the F-150. There is a market for approximately 10,000 US-style pickup trucks per year in Australia and Toyota wants a piece of it with the Tundra.

Sean Hanley, Toyota Australia’s vice president of sales and marketing, said it took time for the company to ensure the local Tundra program was up to the standard the Japanese giant expects, as this was the first of its kind in Australia.

“This is not just a ‘simple’ left to right-hand drive conversion,” Hanley said.

“The Tundra has been completely re-engineered by Toyota engineers working in close collaboration with Walkinshaw and uses many parts and components from other Toyota vehicles such as LandCruiser 300 Series to ensure the very highest quality standards.

“We couldn’t have done it without the great cooperation of Walkinshaw, Toyota North America, and the hundreds of customers that have been evaluating and reporting on the vehicle’s performance in real-world conditions as part of the Tundra Insider Program that kicked off in September last year.”

The Tundra will launch with a single grade, Limited, in November before being joined by an as-yet-unnamed flagship model in the second quarter of 2025.

The latest Tundra is built on the same underpinnings as the LancCruiser 300 Series, Toyota’s TNGA-F platform. Motivation comes from the 3.5-litre twin-turbo V6 i-Force Max hybrid powertrain, which is good for 326kW of power and 790Nm of torque, and sends its performance to the road via a 10-speed automatic transmission. That’s enough for the Tundra to boast a 4500kg braked towing capacity.

Toyota Australia has confirmed specification for the Tundra Limited, with the list of standard equipment to include, 20-inch alloy wheels, LED lights, leather-accented seats with power adjustment, heated and ventilated seats for the front occupants, a 14-inch multimedia touchscreen as well as a 12-speaker JBL sound system with wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto compatibility, plus a 12.3-inch digital instrument cluster.

The unnamed range-topping addition will get a unique grille, black painted alloy wheels, a black-accented tailgate and a panoramic moonroof. It will also add luxuries including massage seats and a heated steering wheel.

Will success on the Supercars track lead to sales success in the showroom? Only time will tell, but the connections between Toyota and Walkinshaw are set to get deeper in the coming years.