The Pricing Thread + Potential US Tariffs Impact

supraninja

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Do we actually know how much Toyota has invested or plans to invest into the FT-1 project?
Technically we don't even know if it is a real life program headed to production. So of course we don't have details like that yet. I would guess given how long Toyota has been out of the sports car game, the fact that it has no current platform to work with and how much cash in its books it is going to allocate a huge budget for it to make sure it's a success. The good thing is the push for a flagship sports car is coming from the very top so hopefully that keeps the bean counters from wrestling too much control.
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fox body

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3x powertrain development costs. While they could pull existing engines from their lineup, but they'd still have packaging costs. And it's not just dropping in an engine, they've got to get each particular setup to work with all of the electronics of the car. With modern safety standards they will have to vet each setup with governmental regulations and they might even have to crash test different engines in other markets to comply with pedestrian impact regs, etc.

There's a reason Ferrari, Porsche, Nissan, etc. only offer a single engine/transmission on some of their cars. If they were going to sell a million of these things a year like they do the Camry, Highlander, etc., sure it would make sense, but there simply won't be enough volume to spread costs. Even on the 4runner they've eliminated engine options and it's one of the staples in their lineup.
It is sad how low volume sports cars have gotten in the last few decades and makes me wonder how many sales they would really need to offer a 3 tier line up. It's hard to compare to Ferrari, Porsche or even the GT-R. Those cars are in a different class than what Toyota should be aiming to do with the Supra. It's going to be a volume car at 60,000. Even more so if they offer a trim starting around 50-55,000. You would start to get some cross-shoppers with the cheap domestic muscle and that's never a bad thing...that's a big market of buyers they can eat into. If they can capture even 1% of those buyers we're talking an extra 20K+ sales a year.

I won't argue the costs with you, I agree it would be a huge investment... maybe a few years down the line as they recoup some of the costs? :dunno:
 

Craigy

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"Cheap domestic muscle" starts at about $30,000. GT500, ZL1, etc. are hardly volume cars.

While I agree with you that they're not going to take a bite out of Ferrari sales, IMO Toyota clearly has their sights set on the GT-R and Porsche 911 markets.
 

bballr35

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It is sad how low volume sports cars have gotten in the last few decades and makes me wonder how many sales they would really need to offer a 3 tier line up.
PPL need to stop buying crossovers so companies can stop focusing on them and make more sports cars. :rant:
 

Da Hmong

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Fb, here is an interesting article germane to your sentiments:

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/12/04/nissan-vp-suggests-next-z-offer-multiple-engines/

The Z has recently been a car closer in price to the pony cars.
Brings up mixed feelings for me on the Supra. I mean as a future owner I want it to be exclusive and just have one engine offered, but on the other hand I want it to be a sales success too so it stays around this time. But it'd probably be more likely to be a sales success if it had multiple engines offered at different prices.
 

fox body

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Fb, here is an interesting article germane to your sentiments:

http://www.autoblog.com/2014/12/04/nissan-vp-suggests-next-z-offer-multiple-engines/

The Z has recently been a car closer in price to the pony cars.
Interesting if that happens because the Z sales are in the toilet.

While the price is in a different league there are similarities here.... not offering the Supra in a V6 would disappoint a lot of fans but Toyota has to face the same reality of selling it in markets where they are taxed like crazy on displacement/emissions, on an already expensive car. Or maybe like the corvette, GT350, etc. they really have no plans to offer it there. I've read even regular Mustang GT's can run up to 70-80K or more after their big engine penalties, taxes and insurance.
 

JohnnyTX

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So what the supra cost more than the vette back in the day too. But it had better design and more sophisticated engineering. I'm expecting that for this time around too, along with a price that reflects it.
 

JJR

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There is no good business case for any powerful car in Europe. They are for the affluent. That's not a good reason to give it a cheap underpowered engine just to sell it there. The big picture is it would hurt ALL sales , like it or not it would lose some serious street cred if it came with a 4 cylidner and we all know it.
 

Craigy

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There is no good business case for any powerful car in Europe. They are for the affluent. That's not a good reason to give it a cheap underpowered engine just to sell it there. The big picture is it would hurt ALL sales , like it or not it would lose some serious street cred if it came with a 4 cylidner and we all know it.
Which might seem silly to some but IMO is really important.

I remember in the 90s when I was a kid, everytime I'd spot a Supra I'd first wonder if it was a Turbo or not. A non-turbo Supra was a real letdown to me. I wouldn't even let myself get excited until I saw the word "Turbo" on the back.

Even these days I'm rarely phased by a Boss or GT500 Mustang. There's so many cheap mustangs running around that I barely notice them, and when I do realize I'm looking at a GT500 it's like "oh, that's cool I guess." And those cars are monsters and I'd love to drive one. On the other hand, everytime I see a GT-R, NSX, R8, etc. I get excited. They're all something special.
 

divinesteer

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There are almost no domestic cars that get me excited. Not just because a lot of them are poor quality and pretty ugly but when youre talking Ford, Dodge, Chevy, those are high volume sellers that you see everywhere. I mean occasionally I'll spot a Viper and it's kinda cool to see but not like I'd ever buy one. It's like seeing a vegas model with implants. No finesse, just bold and in your face. Nothing I'd wanna spend more than a few days with! :nixon:
 

Supra93

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This shouldn't really be news or shock anyone? I always expected a modern day Supra to be about the price of a Corvette so it'd have been shocking if it was cheaper than a Vette.
+1, it also fits in with Kevin Hunter's hinted price range of $50k-$60k.
 

daboss

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I wonder if the Corvette will be moving upmarket in price with the mid-engined C8. If that's the case, it opens up the $50-60k area even more for the Supra in a few years.
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