So this is interesting and I am guessing this will mostly impact UP and NS financially if they are exporting from LA area ports.
Camry - Georgetown, KY (NS)
Tundra - San Antonio, TX (UP, possibly BNSF)
Highlander - Princeton, IN (CSX, NS)
That should cut down in the number of railcars that are only loaded in one direction.
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It appears that the Toyota Tundra is already sold here in Australia, where we drive on the left as they do in Japan. Only a few of these large pickups are sold in Australia, but Ford, GM and Dodge sell a few units here. The Toyota Hi Lux and Ford Ranger are the big sellers. Last time I looked there was a twelve month wait list for Camry sedans in Australia. If the USA is exporting to Japan they probably could send a few to Australia as well.
Peter
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Do you guys get the Toyota crowns in Australia?
The big Toyota Crown sedans (and the similar Nissan Cedric sedans) were sold in Australia up until the late 1970s but Toyota replaced the Crown by a smaller model, the Cressida which had an inline six cylinder engine by the 1980s. This in turn was replaced by the Camry which came with a V6 engine as well as the transverse 4 cylinder. Toyota built the Avalon in Australia for a while, but this was not successful and was replaced by V6 versions of the Camry (which for a time were called “Aurion” but have now reverted to the name Camry.) Toyota also sell Corolla sedans and hatches in Australia, but otherwise sedans are only available from Mazda, Honda, Mercedes and BMW. Ford really only sell pickups and SUVs and GM only sell a few large USA style pickups in Australia. I was surprised to see (and drive) Nissan sedans in a recent visit to the USA.
Peter
I lived and worked in Melbourne, Australia from mid-1999 to early 2004. Large American style vehicles, which my Aussie colleagues referred to as Yank Tanks, were rare. One of the reasons, I believe, is because the price of petrol, which includes a much higher tax burden than in the U.S., flows through to the price at the pump.
My Aussie friends were as much into cars as my fellow Texans. However, they made greater use of Melbourne’s excellent public transit system for commuting, sporting events, entertainment happenings, etc. I did not have a car when I lived in Australia. I did not need one.
I lived in Toorak. I rode the bus to central Melbourne in the mornings; I came home on the Number 8 tram in the evenings. Also, I made extensive use of the suburban train system. One of my frequent trips was to take the suburban train to Belgrave to ride on Puffing Billy, which was loads of fun.
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