Toyota at Work on Tundra Diesels

With gas prices soaring, Toyota’s Tundra pickup truck and its full-size Sequoia SUV haven’t been selling particularly well, to the point where they’ve been hit with incentives. Facing slumping sales, Toyota is planning on sweetening the deal by making these vehicles more fuel efficient without losing any of their hard-working abilities.

Despite the on-again, off-again nature of Toyota and diesels here in North America, Inside Line is reporting that the Japanese brand is working on a diesel engine for the Tundra and Sequoia, and that it could be ready as soon as 2010.

2010 is a key date, as it’s the same model year in which Ford, General Motors and Chrysler LLC will be unveiling their light-duty diesels for their respective half-ton pickups and full-size SUV lines.

Toyota’s truck engine will most likely be a version of the 4.5-liter V8 with variable geometry turbochargers that made its debut in the global-market Land Cruiser; the engine makes 282 horsepower and 480 lb-ft of torque. Given that it’s already in production, the next big step for Toyota would be to apply the appropriate emissions controls allowing it to pass North America’s extra-strict NOx standards.

But this isn’t the only diesel engine that Toyota might have up their sleeve. Inside Line is also reporting that a brand new 7.0-liter V8 turbodiesel is in the works, which would act as the new range-topping engine for the forthcoming Tundra heavy duty model, expected to get the green light for 2011 - 2012. However, this is so far off in the future that things might change.

Either way, with Toyota entering the diesel arena the big three’s trucks won’t be without serious competition.