TUNDRA GETS RE-ENGINEERED FOR AUSTRALIA. WE ASSESS ITS PROGRESS

''Volume won't be a problem with this car based on our sales planning," says Sean Hanley, Toyota's Australian boss as he looks across to the right-hand-drive Tundra pick-up, the culmination of a five-year project.

- ANDY ENRIGHT

Toyota calls this ute its 'premium towing machine' and it's not hard to see why. With a rated towing capacity of 4.5 tonnes, it picks up where Land Cruiser 300 and Hilux have left off. There's been a long validation process and 280 customers and 20 Toyota internal staff are in the process of a year-long trial, so this is yet to be a signed-off program.

When asked if he's confident that the right-hand engineering, in partnership with Walkinshaw, will be up to scratch, he smiles confidently, leans in and says: "We're certainly not doing this not to launch the car," he chuckles.

It's a project that has been made easier by the wealth of componentry shared with the LC300. The crucial 'run, stop, turn' items that would be hugely costly to re-homologate are virtually a straight swap.

That's not to say that the project has been easy. Both Toyota Japan and Toyota USA needed to be convinced of the viability of the project first.

Then there's the small matter of the statement of technical ability. Naturally, should the Tundra project prove a success, the gateway would appear to be open for Toyota Australia to become a hub for right-hook reengineering with export potential, but Hanley won't be drawn on that one.

"There's no export plan at this point, but who knows for the future? We always look at opportunities," he says.

Ray Munday is the engineer: charge of the project or, to use his official title, Senior Manager Vehicle Evaluation and Regulations. He throws some more light on the development story.

"In 2017 we undertook a genchigenbutsu (go to the source) tour," he says. Toyota invited Japanese staff to speak to ex-Toyota customers in Australia, ex-customers who no longer felt served by Toyota for their towing requirements. "It wasn't always glamorous. We did a tour of caravan parks, which was a bit of a novelty for the Japanese because they don't really have them at home."