Toyota Agrees to Change Name of New Truck

Toyota Motor Co. said it agreed to change the name of its new full-size pickup truck, the Toyota T-150, at the request of Ford Motor Co. Ford had complained that the name was similar to its F-150 brand pickup, the top-selling vehicle in the U.S. Toyota, the leading Japan-based auto maker in the U.S., hasn’t yet chosen a new name for its truck, which will go on sale in April. The company said it will choose an actual name, like its Tacoma model, rather than an alphanumeric designation. Toyota’s new pickup represents an effort to build sales in the surging U.S. truck market, which the Big Three have dominated. The new truck will replace Toyota’s T100, which will be phased out in August. Toyota expects its new pickup to triple its truck sales. Sales of light trucks in the U.S. are up 8.2% so far this year, while car sales are down 2.9%. Production of the new pickup begins this fall at Toyota’s new truck plant in Princeton, Ind. The T100 was produced in Japan. Toyota’s U.S. operation is based in Torrance.