Toyota cutting Tundra production again at Princeton plant

IBJ Staff

Assembly of Tundra full-size pickup trucks will be slowed at Toyota Motor Corp.'s plant in Princeton and its new plant near San Antonio for the second time in four months.

The Princeton plant will be idled for six production days until the end of August, according to Bloomberg.

However, Toyota is not planning to shift all production of Tundras and the Sequoia sport-utility vehicle to San Antonio, the company said. In addition to the Tundra and Sequoia, the company assembles the Sienna minivan in Princeton.

No layoffs are planned in Princeton.

Eric Noble, president of the Orange, Calif., consulting firm Car Lab, told Bloomberg that Toyota's redesigned Tundra isn't enough of an improvement to distinguish itself from domestic truck makers.

"They're just one of the players in the market, and they're going down at the moment with the rest of them," Noble said.

Sales of large pickups have fallen 22 percent this year due mostly to high gas prices.