This just in: Detroit's got another challenge from Japan, and this one's deep in the heart of Texas.
Down in San Antonio, Toyota Motor's
And how well is "well"? Well, Toyota looks likely to close out this year with about 100,000 Tundra sales in the U.S., and hopes to increase that to 200,000 next year. If met, that goal suggests that no sooner will the San Antonio plant reach full production than the company would need to expand it, or build more plants, to satisfy anticipated demand.
So it's little wonder that management calls the "full-size pickup truck market . by far, the single-largest opportunity for Toyota's future growth plans in the U.S." For all the success of the company's headline-grabbing Prius and other hybrid vehicles, which continue to run circles around the hybrid offerings of GM
The corollary to that, of course, is that Toyota has put Detroit on the defensive once again. No sooner have GM, Ford, and -- finally -- DaimlerChrysler
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Fool contributor Rich Smith does not own shares of any company named above.