Do high sale numbers make a luxury brand less desireable?
 

I remember back in 2005 when I got my '06 IS350; the newest and most desirable sedan on the market at the time. I was so proud. Then six months later, I couldn't spit out of my window without hitting another 2IS here in SoCal. :p It was super popular, and most ClubLexus meets were 90% 2IS. Fast forward 10 years later, although the IS sells well, I find it no longer as desirable as before.

Part of a brand's aura is exclusivity. Sometimes, I see a sea of RX and IS and ES that, although profitable for a business, does not bode well in creating desirability. The LFA was surely a halo car, and keeping it exclusive and low production made it a dream car.

The U.S. car culture totes a thrive to be #1, and it usually is based on sales figures. There are benchmarks that are based on sales figures: the 3-Series, the RX, the F150, the Camry, the CR-V. Although all of these models are popular, they surely aren't desirable perse. And only a small percentabe of the 3-Series, specifically the M3, is desirable in terms of aura and exclusivity. These sales figures are more about need than want.

How about if we look at Europe? BMW and Mercedes sell in droves because of smaller compact models with smaller displacement engines. Does it make the brand less desirable? Lexus sells in low numbers out there; but surely is not the most desirable brand.

Let's go big and talk about exotics and higher sales figures. Ferrari's highest selling model is the California, but it surely is the least desirable in the model lineup. Aston Martin sells a lot of Vantage models. The V8 Vantage may not be the most desirable in Aston Martin's lineup, but damn, does the V12 model make up for it! (And, of course, in very small numbers.) Do these "cars for mass production and profit" sell to save the exoticness of more rare and exclusive models? Even Porsche has succumbed to selling sedans and SUVs...

It sorta mirrors the Supply-Demand principle. It's not a profitable business model, but it does encourage desirability and rarity.


Would it be wise for certain car makes to say No to increasing sales figures?

VW sells a lot to save Lambo and Bugatti. Fiat does the same for Ferrari and Maserati.

Should Toyota carry the weight to make Lexus more exclusive?


DISCUSS.

yeah the v8 vantage might not be the most "prestige" car in the aston line up but as a owner i can say it is highly exclusive on the road, and at car n coffee--one of the reasons i picked it over a 911 :p

But the answer to the question is both yes and no, depending on the brand and the target customer.

Entry level luxury car--exclusivity does not matter. A lot of time exclusivity = no one knows what the heck it is, and entry level luxury car like the IS and 3 series is a symbol to your peers of yeah, I am doing pretty well.

An RLX is pretty exclusive lol

^^^ Well, desirability and exclusivity are two different things... :p

It's an interesting discussion.

For me, it just depends.

On my RX, I knew exactly what I was getting in to. I had no false illusions of exclusivity. I see other RXs all day, every day. However, I can't say I've found it any less desirable as a result. We still love our RX, even way more than we had expected.

My 3IS is a bit different. I bought mine pretty early on in the cycle (October '13), so for quite some time it was incredibly rare that I would see another, and I enjoyed that. While they sell well, here in the PNW, I still go a week or more between seeing another one on the road (not so the 2IS), so I still feel like it's a bit special. I enjoy that aspect of it.

So perhaps it's about expectations.

Same here in the D.C. Baltimore region...the 2Gen IS250AWD, in particular, was very popular, actually outselling the RWD version by a large margin. It seemed to be especially popular with females.

This is an interesting topic.

Maserati is going to test the waters with exclusivity and a big (relative for them) increase in sales. Ghibli has now brought the entry price into a Maserati within reach of some 5 Series/E-Class shoppers, and the upcoming Levante SUV will also have more widespread volume potential.

Jaguar, once somewhat exclusive with limited product lines, is going to nearly triple their U.S. volume potential with the addition of XE and F-Pace...

Can these brands retain their fairly lofty luxury premises while also catering to more "mass market" demands?

As for the OPs original post, the IS is really not the car that IMO is a prestigious car, its an entry level car. Don't expect prestige when the MSRP starts at $36k

Lexus models such as the LSh, ISf, LX570, and Toyota Land Cruiser are true rare vehicles that truthfully can be called prestigious. Perhaps you can take the ISf out.

Generally speaking, a prestigious car almost always sells in low numbers, but more importantly, it has the high price (difficult to obtain) to back that exclusively.

^^^ Very big difference between "desirable" and "prestigious" in my opinion. I still think a 2nd gen MR2 is very desirable, but not prestigious at all. :)

It did sell in low numbers though.

I just don't know if the demand was high and the supply kept low...

The MR2 was not a prestigious car.

Low sales mean nothing without the high asking price that make is prestigious.

The problem with Jag, though, at least as far as I can tell, is not in adding new models, but, once they do, getting people to actually BUY them. A noted sparsity of nationwide dealerships doesn't help much either.....you have to have outlets to sell your products.

part of the reason i picked a c63 over an m3/m4 is the volume. I see lots of these cars and I just wanted something more original. So far I have only seen one other w205 C63 in the wild.

Correct. Just using it as an example to note that prestigious and desirable are not the same.

Exactly what I said...