typhooonn

Since the new Japanese prime minister was elected 2 weeks ago, Japanese Yen has devaluated over 10%, and the trend is continuing. The new cabinet hoped the devaluation could promote the export of products made in Japan. Wallstreet speculation is that Yen devaluation would be over 20%. Do you guys think this would make Lexus RX450H cheaper, considering that hybrid cars are made in Japan ?

maseace

I doubt it, the supply and demand in the US wouldn't change.

typhooonn

Well, cheaper price could help Lexus earn more share in luxury vehicle market, when competing with Euro and America luxury vehicles. People who planned to buy Euro/US luxury vehicles might switch to Lexus due to lower price. In other words, Lexus could take advantage of the Yen devaluation to steal market share from Euro / US luxury cars, which raises its demand.

LexFather

I doubt they would lover the price as that would **** off existing buyers. There was an article stating how Toyota has the most to gain from the Yen weakening since they are closely knit in Japan still and they have learned to be profitable with a Yen in the high 70/low 80 range. It if continues to climb to the high 80, even 90 range that makes Toyota more profitable just on the yen.

If their forecasters predict that the Yen will continue to weaken, maybe the next round of cars becomes slightly cheaper or they pack in more content.

It will be interesting to see, Lexus has done very well even with the natural disaster and a Yen at record lows.

natnut

I hope so.

An alternative will be that there will be greater differentiation within a model range :

eg : a bare bones GS300h with really competitive pricing and then a fully loaded GS450h F-Sport but with even more features then the current GS450h ie it will be possible to have BOTH features of the Luxury line and the F-Sport in one car and at a price that is no higher than the current GS450h.

spwolf

It is just two engines, they should and will have same equipment packages, at least here in Europe.

pbm317

Nope... I think for the most part the japanese companies have accepted lower margins on the strong yen, in the hopes that it would eventually ease, and restore those profit margins. If anything, maybe some enhanced/improved content will be possible, which would somewhat make a car "cheaper" but no, they're not going to lower MSRP's.

spwolf

we might actually get GS450h selling in the states :-).

Toyota has now announced that they wont be building new factories until 2015, thats probably due to the Yen, as they have plenty of unused capacity in the Japan right now.

Outrage

The prices will remain stationary. You'll see a decontenting of the vehicle when the exchange rates become unfavorable, however (e.g. Honda Civic, Toyota Camry) .

mmarshall

Hard to tell. Many of the important components for hybrids, such as lithium for the battery-packs and platinum for the advanced catalyists, come mainly from countries that are far outside Japan's sphere of currency-influence. Much of the world's lithium, today, for example, comes from Bolivia, and many countries are scrambling to sign mining/trade agreements with the Bolivians as a result.

typhooonn

Hey there, what's the meaning of "decontenting" ?

Outrage

Removing content (features).

mrraider

Compare a 2010 to a 2011 Jetta.

typhooonn

Typically the prices lag currency rate change for about 3 months, so let's see how Lexus prices turn out to be. I was told that prices of Japanese cars have already been slashed in China and other Asian countries.

spwolf

only vehicle that had high price is GS450h... rest of them already had price adjusted due to US market's size...