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One of the things that goes to the point of his living and working on a farm is that Sweers is consistent in his idea that there needs to be a return on investment: heck, there isn't even the consideration of investment unless there is conceivable payback in some way. This purposefulness is refected in the decision to continue to use the powertrains that have been used in Tundras, rather than develop new ones. There are a 5.7-liter, DOHC V8 that produces 381 hp @ 5,600 rpm and 401 lb-ft of torque @ 3,600 rpm; a 4.0liter DOHC V6 that produces 270 hp @ 5,600 rpm and 278 lb-ft of torque @ 4,400 rpm; and a 4.6-liter DOHC V8 that produces 310 hp @ 5,600 rpm and 327 lb-ft of torque @ 3,400 rpm. Speaking of the full-size truck buyer, Sweers says that "they are t One of the goals was to have fve distinct truck grades, from the base work truck to the top end, including the 1794 Edition. (1794? The San Antonio location of Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas, a $2.2-billion facility where 2,900 people have the capacity to produce >200,000 trucks per year, is a former ranch that was established that year.) One interesting aspect of the interior of the 1794 Edition is that the leather used for the seats is the same leather used to cover the seats in the Lexus LS 460. Presumably, this has a little something to do with chief engineer Mike Sweers' experience as vice president of Interiors at Toyota Technical Center in Ann Arbor. very conservative and looking for a bargain." Consequently, he says that when it comes to things like start-stop systems and cylinder deactivation, "fnding the ROI for customers is tough." There isn't, in efect, a whole lot of savings for the investment. Turbocharging is gaining in popularity, but Sweers explains that fuel economy can go down, particularly in heavyload situations, when it is necessary to keep the catalysts cool by adding more fuel to the air-fuel mixture. So he didn't see the point of pursuing that technology, either. "When we can give the customer a good return, you'll see more powertrain variations in the future." And because the truck is primarily about work, they made sure that some elements were sufciently robust to handle the job, like using machinedfrom-billet gears in the transfer case rather than powered metal gears and increasing the size of the driveshafts. It is not as though Mike Sweers was the only person who developed the truck. Far from it. The vehicle was designed at the Toyota Calty studio in Newport Beach, CA. They brought production engineering people, plant engineering people, and even people from Toyota Motor Sales into Calty during the development process. It wasn't a case of involvement after the fact. As designers were sketching, engineers were busy determining feasibility. "You usually start with a stretch design, then end up watering it down in order to make it manufacturable," Sweers says. "Not with this one." p While Toyota's share of the full-size truck market is small as compared with those of Ford, Chevrolet/GMC, and Ram, Bill Fay, group vice president and general manager of Toyota Motor Sales, points out that combined with other light trucks in the company's lineup (especially the midsize Tacoma, which is dominant in its segment, in part because Ford, Ram and GM don't have oferings there (although the Chevy Colorado and GMC Canyon are scheduled for 2014), the overall share of Toyota has in trucks is 18%, approximately what it has in the passenger car market. Both the Tundra and the Tacoma are produced at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Texas in San Antonio. 51