Take a Look at the New Toyota Tundra

CHICAGO (TheStreet) - Hoping to establish a bigger presence in the expanding U.S. pickup truck market, Toyota (TM) unveiled the 2014 Tundra Thursday at the Chicago Auto Show.

"Tundra continues to deliver on what full-size truck customers need and now gives them more of what they want as well," said Bill Fay, Toyota Division general manager, in introductory remarks, during which he emphasized that the truck will be produced in Toyota's San Antonio, Texas, facility.

"The redesigned Tundra is a continuation of Toyota's initiative to locally develop more engaging vehicles specifically for the North America market, which began with the all-new Avalon," Fay said. "From its inception back in 1999, the Tundra was designed and built for American truck buyers and all Tundra's are built at our San Antonio plant. "

The new truck, which will come in five models, faces tough competition.

In the past two months, GM (GM) unveiled a new Chevrolet Silverado, Chrysler's Ram was introduced and then voted the 2013 truck of the year, and Ford (F) unveiled the 2014 Atlas concept pickup at the Detroit Auto Show. The Tundra, last updated in 2007, needs to keep up.

In 2012, Ford's F-150 pickup truck was the best-selling U.S. vehicle, as 645,316 were sold. GM's Chevrolet Silverado ranked third, with sales of 418,312 units, while Chrysler's Ram sold 293,363. Tundra sold 101,621 units.

"The truck market has always been a bit of a tough go for Toyota," said Rebecca Lindland, research director at IHS Automotive. "The pickup truck market is very domestically oriented."

Lindland cited Ram's compelling Super Bowl commercial, which connected the Ram 1500 to America's agricultural heritage as an indication of the segment's strong domestic identification.

Nevertheless, the segment has a strong allure as it is boosted by a recovering economy, particularly in the housing construction sector, which is a bastion of pickup truck use.