MOTOR TREND Magazine Names the Toyota Tundra 2000 Truck of the Year

20 December 1999
MOTOR TREND Magazine Names the Toyota Tundra 2000 Truck of the Year
    PRINCETON, Ind., Dec. 20 -- MOTOR TREND magazine announced
today the Toyota Tundra as its choice for 2000 Truck of the Year at the
company's $1.2 billion plant in Princeton, Indiana.  With their selection,
MOTOR TREND applauded the new pickup's class-leading performance, car-like
driving experience, sophisticated technology, inviting refinement, impressive
safety and outstanding value.
    "This bold upstart has sent shock waves through the industry, blending the
best people-pampering attributes of a passenger car with the rough-and-ready
capabilities of a true work truck," noted C. Van Tune, Editor-in-Chief of
MOTOR TREND.  "Toyota has created a precedent-setting package that brilliantly
integrates utility, creature comforts and value with the firm's legendary
reliability and toughness."
    This is the 12th year that MOTOR TREND has presented a Truck of the Year
award.  It was initiated in 1989 to recognize each year's most significant
vehicle in this extremely popular and rapidly evolving segment of the
automotive market.  In choosing this year's winner, MOTOR TREND editors
considered all new or significantly changed 2000 pickups and full-size vans
that are on sale by January 1, 2000.  In picking the winner, editors weighed
vehicle value, performance, technological advancement, quality of assembly,
safety, livability and overall impact on the automotive market.
    MOTOR TREND's annual awards-including Car of the Year, Truck of the Year
and newly initiated SUV of the Year -- are widely regarded as the most coveted
honors in the automotive industry.  Toyota's win this year is a fitting
closeout to the century, as their Xtracab SR5 V-6 Pickup won the inaugural
Truck of the Year accolade in 1989.
    The Truck of the Year award ceremony can be accessed via satellite at the
following coordinates: C-Band, Telstar 6, Transponder 7, (2:00-2:30pm EST news
feed).
    EMAP Petersen Inc. (http://www.petersenco.com) is a wholly owned subsidiary of
EMAP plc (http://www.emap.com), the largest specialty interest magazine publisher in
the U.S. with over 160 publications including MOTOR TREND, HOT ROD, TEEN,
SPORT, SURFER, MOTORCYCLIST, SLAM, HOME THEATER, among others.