Australians are getting yet another American-made full-size pickup: the Toyota Tundra. While Toyota doesn’t build them in right-hand drive, it’s asked Walkinshaw, a local engineering firm, to convert its pick-ups over to wrong-hand-drive so it can meet regulations. However, since that conversion is time-consuming and expensive, the Tundra is going to start at $155,990 AUD, which converts to $101,693. And that can be a tough pill to swallow while the Tundra gets over some reliability issues.
That starting price makes it the most expensive full-sized American-made truck in Australia. The Chevrolet Silverado 1500 is the next most expensive, at $85,016 USD before any additional costs. The Ram 1500 is next at $78,143 USD, and it also needs a local right-hand-drive conversion, with the Ford F-150 being the cheapest, at $69,674 USD. So even in the world of expensive American trucks in Australia, the Tundra is still pricey.
To be fair to the Aussie Tundra, it’s a Limited trim with the most expensive powertrain option. Rather than the plain V6 we get in the United States market base model, the Australian Tundra starts with the top-end i-Force Max hybrid powertrain. It’s an electrified 3.5-liter twin-turbocharged V6 making 437 horsepower and 583 lb-ft of torque, and it’s capable of towing 9,920 pounds. It also comes with an extensive list of goodies from the jump, like heated and ventilated synthetic leather seats, a digital rearview mirror, wireless Apple CarPlay and Android Auto, a 12-speaker JBL sound system, and even 20-inch wheels. In turn, Aussie customers won’t have to add too much to its price tag to live in luxury.
The Tundra does come with a bit of baggage. As powerful as that twin-turbo V6 is, it’s also faced serious reliability concerns. Toyota says the problem is fixed now but leftover machining debris in the combustion chambers forced the automaker to recall nearly 100,000 MY2022-2023 Tundras. The fix? Total engine replacements for each and every one of them.
It will be interesting to see how many of these converted right-hand drive Tundras are sold in Australia, given the massive cost. Moreover, Australians still love the 70 Series Land Cruiser, which has been on sale there for I believe more than 2,000 years, if I’m not mistaken. There are Australian cave drawings of that truck. It’s a beloved, durable, proven workhorse for Aussie customers, so even though they’re very different trucks, I’m curious how many customers will spend double on the Tundra.
Got tips? Send ’em to tips@thedrive.com