Come to think about it... The supposed high price and limited availability of the LFA opens the door wide open for an SC-F hmmmm

 

I'd like to see both an IS coupe and a GS coupe.
The ISC would be more affordable and offer the sportiness of rival brands.
The GS coupe...just plain sexiness of a big coupe....just for me. WHat a dream!

 

I totally agree with you Mike. The LF-A will be rare and highly priced and will be the ultimate "Halo" vehicle for Lexus.

Hopefully the new Toyota president Akio Toyoda brings in tons of surprises. Let's wish for the comeback of the Supra, IS C (fixed hardtop coupe), SC 350 (fixed hardtop coupe), Toyota MR2, Celica or a Toyobaru project coupe...Solara, ES 350 C based on the Solara and so on...

Maybe Lexus can change the image of coupes and make them somewhat more desirable, attainable and just plain sell well.

I will agree with you. Not too many people will be able to drop $250K for an LF-A. Lexus can detune the V10 engine and drop it into an SC F and the price should be more reasonable say $80K-$90K. The SC F would compete head on with the M6. The M6 is not in the same level/league as the LF-A.

That same detuned V10 engine can also be dropped into the GS F and would also be priced around $80K-$90K. The GS F would compete directly with the M5.

 

Posted by 1SICKLEX for the month of July 2009:

Coupe/Convert (new category)

G37- 1,597
C70-685
911- 651
Z4-614
A5- 544
CLK-364
Boxster/Cayman- 352
SL-319
6 series-252
SLK-234
TT- 174
CL-85
R8-69
SC-57

As one can see coupes/convertibles don't sell a whole lot. Maybe Lexus can change that...

IS 250/350 C
IS 450h C
IS C F
ES 350 C
ES 450h C
SC 350/460
SC 450h
SC F
LF-A (coupe/roadster/hybrid)

 

I agree. IMO, the 2nd gen SC's ugly butt heavy shape is largely due to the bulky folding hardtop over a 4 seater (barely) configuration.

 

I prefer to see premium coupe/hardtop category that Lexus should target as mainly the 3 series, E-class, G37. These 3 cars alone generate decent volume in medium price ranges. I think Lexus could do well here.

 

I agree. It only makes sense to compete with a similar product. A soft top version wouldnt fly

 

The one thing that monthly sales numbers don't tell us is the sales of the 3 series coupe and convertible since BMW lumps the sales of all variants into one grand total. Even though they don't break them down individually, it has been said that the coupe and convertible make up roughly 1/3 of all 3 series sales. That number would indicate somewhere between 20,000 and 30,000 coupes and convertibles sold in a calendar year, so these are clearly a volume product for BMW.

The G37 is the only coupe that really directly competes with the 3, and it has fewer variants. The infiniti has the coupe and convertible only, while BMW has 328i coupe, 328i convert, 335i coupe, 335i convert, M3 coupe, and M3 convert. The A/S5 is priced somewhat higher than the 3, as is the E coupe.

If Lexus was to challenge BMW directly by offering (for example) IS250 coupe, IS250 convert, IS350 coupe, IS350 convert, IS F coupe, and IS F convert, I am sure that they would see a good bit of success. Since no other company offers as many variants as BMW does, it's kind of hard to gauge success and sales volumes.

Obviously something like a GS coupe would be sold in fewer quantities, but the ISc could turn into a profitable and successful product in it's next generation. Truthfully, it already is and the car only offers 2 variants.

 

Yes. But it's not necessary to have a accurate split out of the 3 series sales to justify a Lexus coupe, the total 3 series sales statistics are reason enough. The success of the 3 series coupe and G37 coupes alone are very obvious in the high-volume car-loving California regions.

 

the g37 coupe sells pretty good for a jap brand. in this economy

 

You are correct, the 3 coupe/convert accounts for 30% of sales, a big chunk. The only place I've seen numbers broken down is in the BMW magazine Bimmer.


1. Stop saying "jap" it is offensive.
2. The G37 coupe sells good no matter what country it is from

 

Yes with a regular IS-C coupe that would go a long way towards upping IS sales IMO, which are already quite good for a sedan-only model cycle (up to this year, now it's sedan+convert).