Kitsap Peninsula Business Journal
11-7-2003
SPECIAL REPORT - AUTOMOTIVE 2004
Toyota and Nissan set to challenge
Big 3 in the full-size truck market

Both Nissan and Toyota are getting set to do battle with Detroit in the full-size truck market — long the exclusive province of the Big 3.

Nissan recently introduced its new Titan, a full size pickup that will be built in Canton, Miss. and comes in both king and drew cab configurations.

Toyota, which has been building the full-size Tundra, a extended cab pickup, recently debuted a crew cab version as well.Both manufacturers expect to challenge the Ford F-150, the world’s best selling pickup for the past 20 years, head on.

Nissan threw down the gauntlet in Detroit when it introduced the Titan at the Detroit Auto Show.

The Titan King Cab features doors that open almost 180 degrees for nearly unlimited interior access and a high-utility bed that includes an industry-first factory-applied spray-in bed liner, a new Utili-track tie-down system that provides ultimate cargo hauling flexibility and an integrated, lockable bedside storage compartment.

The Double Cab Tundra as Toyota calls it, is available in V8 two-wheel drive and four-wheel drive models in SR5 and Limited trim

At 230.1 inches long, the Tundra Double Cab is about four inches longer than the new-generation Ford F150 Super Crew. Approached from every angle, the Tundra Double Cab conveys a brawny "big-rig" presence due to an additional three inches of overall height and over four inches of overall width.

At 74.3-inches, the Tundra Double Cab bed is approximately seven inches longer than the bed in either the new Ford F150 Super Crew or Nissan Titan Crew Cab.