NEW SUPRA!!1 erm... Toyota FT-1 Concept

[Anh]

I'm not so sure about that. The GT 86 shows there are car people in the company. Plus look at some of the recent Lexus designs - they aren't exactly shy!

 

FWIW, I do believe a new Supra is coming, but we haven't seen it yet...

 

I believe you misunderstood my post.

 

Toyota are a business, and they won't take risks on making a flashy performance car at a great expense when people will rather pay 70k for a BMW or Porsche.

 

The GT-86 is no Porsche competitor, it is an affordable rival to working man cars like the Renault hot hatches, Honda CTRs and such. Besides, it was a joint effort by Subaru and Toyota to split the risk and costs.

 

Lexus have a rather embarrassing streak about them within Europe, but they tend to do better in the USA and Middle East markets - the middle classes seem buy into that 'artificial prestige' there.

[Anh]

Clarkson said the LF-A was probably the best car he'd ever driven... I dont think Richard 'The Hamster' Hammond's comments mean fek all to the richest car company in the world. The LF-A also sold all its numbers before they finished them.

 

I think you will find a number of wealthy car buyers are rather easily manipulated by public opinion!

 

Top end car ownership is 95% about perception and image, no matter how well built and how well it drove.

 

The LF-A did sell (at a huge loss), what with its limited production run, it managed to sell in the USA, middle east and Japan. Only a few in Europe took a punt with one, and they got a bit of a ribbing from their peers.

 

I agree with a lot of your third paragraph - maybe they're just waiting to see what the competition to, much like what they did when they released ours in trying to make sure it was better than the rest at the time in terms of final specs.

 

Toyota have the resources to make a car faster/better/more reliable/ etc etc, its whether they can do it at a reasonable cost. A new Supra needs to be 2/3rds the price of an equivalent BMW or Porsche - there needs to be v.f.m.

[Gaz6002]

I believe you misunderstood my post.

 

Toyota are a business, and they won't take risks on making a flashy performance car at a great expense when people will rather pay 70k for a BMW or Porsche.

 

The GT-86 is no Porsche competitor, it is an affordable rival to working man cars like the Renault hot hatches, Honda CTRs and such. Besides, it was a joint effort by Subaru and Toyota to split the risk and costs.

 

Lexus have a rather embarrassing streak about them within Europe, but they tend to do better in the USA and Middle East markets - the middle classes seem buy into that 'artificial prestige' there.

 

I fully believe it will.

 

And yes, the 86 was an affordable project, but it proves there's an appetite for sports cars. So does the success of the GT-R worldwide.

 

The thing with Lexus cars nowadays is they're better built and more genuine than most 'premium' German brands, and miles more impressive than their sales figures suggest. The drivetrain options are the big drawback.

[Bobbeh]

They only made a limited number because that was the decision.. the technology went into the LFA was more a 'look at what we can do' statement, not to make money from it. Plus its a flagship model for the Lexus brand. They make they money from all the dross boring cars, not those at the top of the tree. Like I said, they sold out completely, and they are fetching more now as people bought them as investments.

 

If you're talking mass production sports cars then I agree with you. They already did that with the LF-A and didnt care about making a loss. Like I said above, it was a statement. BMW and Porsche have great racing pedigree that people buy in to and want to be part of. Toyota dont have as much success globally and Le Mans is another perfect example of their failure along with F1, although this year they were so unlucky.

 

The Veryons are sold at a loss too, as well as many other cars, Toyota are not alone there.

[AJI]

Agree with what Bobbeh is saying;

Many car manufacturers wish to have a "statement model" within their line-up, even if that means, on occasion, its only a limited run model that sells at a loss.

Brand image is very much key on car sales in both retaining customers drawing in new ones.