Not necessarily. The Canadian ES330 starts at $39,900. The base price of the American ES330 is $32,825.

The Lexus VP at the unveiling said that the base price of the IS250 will be "very close" to the base price of the 2005 IS300. This is about the closest to anything "official" we've got from Lexus about the price of the American IS.

The base price of the 2005 IS300 is $29,735. So I'm inclined to think that the base price of the 2006 IS250 will be around $30,000.

 

And your point is? Please read my calculations again. I was scaling the prices accordingly.I wouldn't count on adjectives and adverbs in human languages to estimate numbers. Remember when the RL was first introduced the Acura VP said the RL would be priced "well under $50k". Most people took the words as $47-48k. Well guess what, the RL came out with a price tag of $49,100.

I'll stand by my mathematical deduction of $28k for the American IS250 until more hard data come out from Lexus. Depending on whom you ask, $28k can be "very close to" $29,735 too.

 

I think he must have been talking about 06 RL - cause at the current sales pace and actual sales prices that's where it's headed.

28,990 has a nice ring to it for an IS250. Seriosusly, the marketeers for Lexus must be chomping at the bit to use the line " The best luxury sedan under 30K". Like the GS300, they'll pull the ole "starting at" pricing scheme - where the base price is under 30K but not a single car on a lot can be had at that price.

 

Well, they probably already know that very few people will want just he base car, if their experience tell them otherwise, they will have more base cars on the lot.

 

I'm surprised that you don't see my point. I was doing the same thing that you were doing, that is, extrapolating the US base price of the IS using the Canadian "estimate". But I was using the ES as a reference point rather than the GS.

The base price of the Canadian ES is $39,900. What was the Canadian rep's "estimate" for the IS? $39,900. The base price of the US ES is $32,800. There is no way that the IS will start as high as $32,800, but I don't think it'll be as low as $28,000 either. Hence, my guess of $30,000.

Of course, I wish it would be more like $28,000, but I'll stand by my estimates. This is still a price conscious segment, and a couple thousand dollar difference can mean a lot.

Anyways, I guess these price guesses are academic at this point. We'll just have to wait for the official word, although I'm more interested in the price of a fully loaded IS350 (since that is the car I'm considering), rather than a base IS250.

 

OK I just noticed that you were comparing Canadian dollars to US dollars. But thanks to your mentioning the ES, you also make me notice that the Canadia ES330 and the Canadian IS250 actually share the same base price of CDN$39,900. Same price!!

That means on one hand if we deduce the price figure from the new GS, we get US$27-28k for the IS250; on the otherhand if we deduce the price from the ES, we get that the IS250 will start at the same price as the ES, US$32,825!!

Perhaps the final U.S starting price for the IS250 will be "very close to" the old IS300 indeed after all.

 

Ah... your post came up after I posted my last post. So you see I finally saw it too. Thanks for your reminder, now I'm in total agreement with you.

BTW, the current Canadian IS300 starts from CDN$37,990. So Lexus Canada is pricing the IS250 CDN$2000 higher than the IS300. I hope it's not a sign of what's coming to the IS pricing in the U.S as well. At that level the new IS is more expensive than the new 3, and it'll be tough cracking the 3 market again.

 

FYI, Lexus Canada just dropped the base price of the refreshed 2005 ES330 by almost $4K compared to the 2004. Canadian prices for Lexus cars may not necessarily have a direct correlation with US prices, they can possibly use different pricing strategies for different models, I don't believe US 2005 ES330 have the same price decrease, so using the ES330 Canadian price as a base for your little exercise may not get you anywhere LINK HERE

 

I have a feeling (But only speculation) that the IS250 base price could be as high as $32K. I'm hoping for under $30K though. The reason why I think that is because I have a feeling that the new ES330 or ES350 whatever they call it when it is redesigned will go up in price as well. So its starting price will probably be higher than the starting price of the current ES330.

 

Ah...good info. So that's about US$3,200 off the US$32,825 price = US$29,625 then. Perhaps $30k is still the right number after all.Good point too. We should compare the new gen only to the new gen. The IS is supposed to be and should remain the most entry-level car in the Lexus lineup.

 

Yeah, there are too many other factors and strategies that pertain to Canada and the US and the different models to get anything anywhere near exact. If we were to follow the 2005 ES example to the letter, that would result a IS250 base price that is too high.

 

Check out this article from Japan's Asashi.com site:

Toyota to raise vehicle prices in the U.S. in October

Toyota Motor Corp. plans to raise the prices on most of its models in the United States to help its struggling rivals in Detroit and to prevent trade friction from erupting, company sources said.

The price hikes of 2 percent to 3 percent will likely start in October, they said.

The automaker will increase delivery costs for sales companies and reduce incentives, which will force the retailers to make up the difference with bigger price tags, the source said.

In 2004, Toyota posted record profits and sold 2.29 million vehicles in North America, an increase of 10.6 percent from the previous year.

But the fortunes of the so-called Big 3 U.S. automakers went the other way. General Motors Corp. recently announced it would cut 25,000 jobs by 2008 and has expressed its intention to substantially raise its auto prices.

Concerned that Toyota's success in the United States could be viewed as coming at the expense of U.S. automakers, Toyota Chairman Hiroshi Okuda repeatedly said Toyota would need to adjust prices.

He also wants to stave off any potential trade friction that could lead to the "Japan bashing" seen in the United States in the 1980s and 1990s, the sources said.

In the U.S. auto industry, vehicle prices usually change when new models are offered.

But Toyota generally raises prices only as a result of foreign exchange fluctuations or when equipment is added to its cars.

Under the changes in October, the Camry, Toyota's best-selling midsized sedan in the United States, will cost several hundred dollars more than its current price of around $20,000 (2.2 million yen), the sources said.

Toyota officials said they have no immediate plans to significantly revise auto prices in Japan.

http://www.asahi.com/english/Herald-...506100224.html

 

In commenting on the above article, Automotive News adds:

A Toyota spokesman said the automaker has not yet decided to raise U.S. prices, adding it is still looking at such factors as the competitive environment, costs and profit.

U.S. car prices are typically set higher when new models are introduced each year. But the rates of increase would be much steeper when cars undergo full-model changes every few years, the Toyota spokesman said.


If true, all of this points to pricing on the high end of our estimates for the new IS.

 

True... Consider ourselves extremely lucky if the IS250's base price stays at $30k. More likely than not we will see a small price hike a la the Canadian IS.

 

that's nice of Toyota to be looking out for US reputation. At the same time, it sucks that we'll have to pay more for Toyota products just because GM has no attractive vehicles.