The Toyota Tundra is another full-size pickup manufactured in the United States that will be available to Australians. In order to comply with rules, Toyota has requested that Walkinshaw, a local engineering business, modify its pickups from right-hand drive to wrong-hand drive. However, the Tundra will start at $155,990 AUD, which translates to $101,693, because that conversion is costly and time-consuming. And while the Tundra overcomes certain reliability difficulties, that can be a difficult pill to take.
It is the priciest full-sized American-made vehicle in Australia due to its beginning price. The next most costly vehicle is the Chevrolet Silverado 1500, which costs $85,016 USD before all other expenses. The Ford F-150 is the least expensive, at $69,674 USD, followed by the Ram 1500, which costs $78,143 USD and requires a local right-hand-drive conversion. Therefore, the Tundra is still expensive in Australia, where expensive American trucks are common.
It’s a Limited trim with the priciest powertrain choice, to be fair to the Australian Tundra. The top-end i-Force Max hybrid drivetrain powers the Australian Tundra instead of the standard V6 seen in the US market base model. It has a 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 engine that produces 437 horsepower and 583 lb-ft of torque. It can haul 9,920 pounds. Additionally, it has a long list of features right out of the box, including 20-inch alloys, a digital rearview mirror, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, heated and ventilated synthetic leather seats, and a 12-speaker JBL sound system. Australian consumers will therefore be able to live in luxury without having to pay a hefty price tag.
There are some drawbacks to the Tundra. Despite its great power, that twin-turbo V6 has had major reliability issues. Although Toyota claims that the issue has been resolved, the firm had to recall almost 100,000 MY2022–2023 Tundras due to residual machining debris in the combustion chambers. The remedy? All of them had their engines completely replaced.
Given the high price, it will be interesting to see how many of these Tundras with right-hand drive conversions are sold in Australia. Furthermore, Australians continue to adore the 70 Series Land Cruiser, which has, if my memory serves me correctly, been available for purchase there for over 2,000 years. Drawings of that truck can be found in Australian caves. Even though these are completely different trucks, I wonder how many Australian buyers will pay twice as much on the Tundra since it is a well-liked, dependable, and tested workhorse.
