Infra

iTrader: (1)

Maybe, even at their sales price, Lexus is hardly making any profit. Certainly the idea of business is to make a profit. But there is more than one way to do that.

Lexus is creating demand for their brand with this car. It's an image thing. If they sell a few thousand more cars, then the LFA has been a success. They don't *have* to sell the LFA itself in order for the project to make sense.

-J-P-L-

Absolutely. That's usually the point of any high end halo sports car (outside of dedicated companies like Lamborghini, Farrari, and Porsche).

Mbenz528i

Lexus limited the LFA to 500 cars because unlike other manufacturers, Lexus cares about quality, not quantity and they figured out that 500 is the number using an exact formula. Lexus wants guys like us...just with enough money to buy the car. People who are (1) loyal to Lexus, (2) love cars for the sake of cars, (3) believe cars are meant to be driven, not garaged, and (4) can afford it.

It is all based on status, but the more they make, the more people can buy it and it will fall into the hands of the people who do just want it for status, not for the reasons above. Think of the LFA as an award to the people like us who worked hard and this is their exclusive award.

And it will be worth $2 Mil on day.

flipside909

Very well said.

Ice350

iTrader: (1)

I somewhat agree, except the 2 mill part. If it had the gorgeous looks of the original prototype and more than 550 hp I might agree with rising values.....ands a big might.
Another thing, if you're correct that people will actually driv the car, exotics with 50k miles don't usually appreciate. As with any car they depreciate.

MR_F1

I guess we will see in 20 yrs then.

TommyJames

I'm new to this forum. First some background, I've owned several Lexus, a GS300, LX450, SC430 and I currently own an LS460L. I also own a Lamborghini LP640 Roadster (Verde Ithaca), I own a Cornish White 08 Rolls Royce Phantom, an H2 Hummer, and I currently have a Lamborghini LP670-4 SV coming this next week, it will be the only Verde Ithaca in the US. I'm also very active in car circles, I host the Saturday morning Exotics at Redmond Town Center event, and I've hosted two Lamborghini events, one in the Seattle area and one in Orange County. I know a hell of a lot of exotic owners across the US who own just about everything imaginable.

I have to admit regarding the LFA, I found the "we will select the buyers" to be very arrogant of them and so I decided to do some homework to find out just how many exotic owners plan to buy one. I've yet to have one within my circle of contacts say they are even remotely interested for several reasons, but most have to do with price/value over performance. The exotic car community is really small, much smaller than most know. As an example, we can usually track down ever Murcielago owner with just a few calls and there are roughly just under 4,000 built since 2002. That works out to just 500 cars worldwide a year. Lamborghini would have sold more if they could. Price ranges for the Murc ran between around $300k in 2002 to $500k for a new SV. At $375k, that's between the Gallardo, 458, used Carerra GTs, and lots of used LP640s, etc. I would love it if actual buyers of the LFA posted here so we'd have some idea of the truth. When Lexus says "500 have expressed a strong interest" that's a completely empty statement. 200 million express an extremely strong interest in Ferrari. That doesn't mean they will buy one. I have my doubts about the LFA, it didn't interest me because the numbers just aren't there and I'm a qualified buyer AND a multi-Lexus owner, AND I'm very active in car circles and I've never been contacted by anyone either. Apparently even I don't fit the right profile and somehow they claim to have all 500 spoken for???? Sorry, I think this is a marketing disaster in the making, but that's just me.

Personally, I'd love it if it were true. I'd like to see more people get involved in Exotic ownership of all brands. It's just that I don't like shams, and this feels like one to me. As for my LS460L, I love it. I prefer it on long drives over the Phantom.

(Cj)

There are actually quite a few here on Club Lexus that are on lists to purchase an LFA.

And to clarify one of your points comparing the LFA's "strong interest" with Ferrari: to formally express interest in the LFA means you have put some money down I believe (someone correct me if I'm wrong). The formal interest is not just people that drool over it on their computer screens

Oh and btw WELCOME TO CLUB LEXUS!

TommyJames

Thanks!

How does that deposit process work exactly? Does Lexus contact them, and they drop money on a deposit? Have they selected color? And if so, what number car were they assigned? I'd love to know how many here actually have deposits on LFAs and what other cars are currently in their stables. Again, I'm smelling a giant pile of bull**** coming from Lexus so hopefully someone will compile an actual registry.

In years past, Lamborghini would make similar claims that all production was sold for a year. The truth was that dealers were allocated the year's production slots, so if you were a buyer, you either had to pick from something that was already on order with someone or you'd have to wait until an unspecified slot was open at some dealership. Chances were good that if you checked around you'd not have to wait more than six months, which is only two month more than it takes when there is no line.

I would expect Lexus to actually sell (lease for unspecified terms) between ten and twenty cars in the US market and no more at the $375k price, with most of those going to dealers as actual owners. I do not believe the 100+ numbers, and would love to be proven wrong with hard data from someone.

TommyJames

In reading some of the posts, there are some misconceptions about "millionaires" and how they spend their money. First of all, the actual number of exotics sold in a year of all brands is very small. Here is an example from the month of December in the US.

Bentley 165 - 1,367 cars
Lamborghini 15 - 345 cars
Rolls Royce 17 - 326 cars
Ferrari 125 - 1,374 cars
Maybach 9 - 66 cars

This is in the entire US market for one month. The second number is for the preceding twelve months. Ferrari released the low priced California and Bentley is in the $200k range. I could not get data for Aston-Martin. As you can see, when you move above $200k, the numbers quickly fall off. The bell curve drops rapidly after you get above about $220k.

Exotic sports cars have their own singular category in sales because they don't have the same utility as something like a Bentley or even a Phantom. Still, the point is that this is the entire market in the US. Now, to interject the LFA, one has to pull customers from two places, one is the group that's never owned a new exotic, ever. That's a very small number as most exotic car owners are either car guys or they are not and tend to just keep staying in car circles. So If the LFA were pulling from half that group, then you'd have to break it down again and figure out who's willing to GIVE UP performance for the LAF, because other than the sedans and the Ferrari California, every other car beats the numbers on the LFA. So, when I look at it this way, I have my doubts.

As I said on another forum, exotics are not purchased in the same process used to buy my LS460L. When you buy an exotic, you can't just go down and go for a test drive of that rare LP670 you always wanted. You go through a "get to know someone" qualification process, where you meet other car guys who introduce you to other owners and they in face are your primary sales point. The dealers play more of a tactical role. I talked to other owners before I bought my LP640 Roadster. I spoke with the dealer only after I met other owners and got opinions. Exotic dealers are use to posers walking in claiming to want to buy cars all the time and without some qualification, they are met with skepticism. I bought my Phantom in San Diego and the dealer called the head of Lamborghini USA to make sure I was real. I'd already spoken with other Phantom owners and they helped put me in touch with the right dealer for the right new car. That's how it's done. So, when I read this opening article, I'm just not believing it. For the sake of credibility, hopefully some hard data will come out with the truth, one way or another.

(Cj)

I can see where you're coming from. I can't get all the information, but I'm sure most of the LFA's are going to be sold within the Lexus's timeframe for selling them. Only 150 were going to be "sold" in the US anyway. Most of the 500 went to other parts of the world where interest in the LFA is huge.

From what I know dealers aren't going to be too involved in the "sales" process of the LFA. They more or less are going to be mediums for purchase. Unlike most of Lexus's cars when you're buying an LFA you're dealing more with Lexus corporate than with your local dealer.

Again as far as presales information, the only thing we know now is from the few articles posted on various auto-sites. What is concrete is that global LFA demand has outstripped supply...

lobuxracer

iTrader: (2)

^^Sounds like you didn't read about how Lexus is selling this car. You'll never see one at a dealership unless it is getting serviced. It will not be sold "used" for the first two years because Lexus have a lease only sale and if you want to back out of the lease Lexus gets their car back.

This marketing model is a lot more like the way the Enzo was sold - qualified buyers expressed interest to Ferrari and were allowed to lease one. No Enzos were sold outright in the US by any dealership. Lexus is doing the same thing.

LexFather

Welcome to Clublexus and thanks for the your insight it is very valuable.

Looking at numbers from Lexus 20 a month will be built for 25 months. This is for worldwide consumption. America will get 150-160 with seemingly half for California. 6 a month x 25= 150, 7 a month is 175. So 6/7 a month for America. (Surely allocation can change/will change according to demand in the different markets)


Yeah, from talking to dealers it seems there will be specially trained techs per region. Also it seems the entire process will be tuned to the customer, including picking up the LFA and dropping it back to their home for service.

Clearly investing hundreds of millions in the car, they are even more cautious (and Lexus is always cautious). It will be interesting to see final numbers.


Well it seems the buying process is different around the world. Some good reading here and a couple potential buyers are posting.

https://www.clublexus.com/forums/lex...-demand-2.html

-J-P-L-

Yeah, but do you own a Yaris?



Impressive portfolio, What do you do for work, I might have to check it out.

-J-P-L-

Thanks for all of your insight, that's some great info.

Never really realized there was such a process in buying an exotic. Really, I thought that if you were really wealthy, you could simply order your car with a deposit, and then pick it up when it arrives and hand them a verified check.

I always thought that if I won the Powerball jackpot and walked away with say, $150M, that I'd go pick up a Murcielago in the same week (assuming I bought one that happens to already be built and available) as my celebration prize. I guess I wouldn't be able to do that?