@NickL
”Most people with $110k+ will look at a more prestigious brand. There’s just a handful of us that love the car for what it is and that’s enough to keep the value from depreciating. But it’s never a hot seller and never will. “

No doubt that brand recognition and perception are powerful factors. Yet other than Porsche 911, the LC 500 depreciates less than Mercedes Benz, BMW,Audi, Aston Martin, Bentley etc. Those cars value drop like boulders in the used car market.

 

The people who are into those cars don’t care about depreciation.

 

I usually see a car on the street local and then decide to get one. But I never did see one around here in CT. But in looking for a LS500 I came across the LC500. Then I was hooked with no escape.

 

Looks like delivery day

 

looks sooooo good in silver!

 

I wonder...

The LC is the "oddball" in the Lexus range and as it is also quite a revolutionary model, a limited production and probably one of the last V8 production cars I feel it may become a collectors item.

I have owned a 1998 NSX (which was revolutionary car from the beginning) that after 19Y ownership and still in as new condition with just 36K Mls, I sold last year and that HAS become a collectors car.
It went up in value considerably, espec over the last 6-8Y, even though it also "just" has the Acura/Honda brand name

 

Whether they can sell 5-10k a month wasn't my point. My point was they slow built for a purpose. If Toyota wanted to build 5-10k a month they could, its Toyota. A brand new one of the lot, prior to the production stoppage announcement, will sell sooner or later for MSRP(with the 6k in dealer addons that EVERY dealer in my area does, I only got out of it cause I ordered mine). Every convertible near me in Seattle was sold within a month in an area where you can only have the top down for 2 months out of the year. the coupes went much quicker.

 

A 6 figure car today (and very high 5 figure when introduced in 2018) that isnt a do-everything bloated SUV has a limited audience in North America, especially the USA. I'm sure Lexus considered that in addition to other factors when deciding to produce a lower volume of LCs compared to the max thoughput at Motomachi.

Americans have gotten so fat they almost HAVE to drive a truck or SUV even if they dont have kids. A lot if people I know cannot comfortably fit in my SLC or LC 500 because they are morbidly obese.

Add to that the sports coupe/vert class and everyone doing spec-sheet racing for 0-60 & quarter mile times to base their decisions on despite never setting foot on a track, and it starts to look like the LC has done extremely well all things considered. Cheers!

 

To call something a "sales failure" implies that there was a target (defined by who?) and that the number of sales didn't meet the target.

If the question is "why didn't they sell more LC500s", it's simply a combination of high price and relatively low performance for that price. Especially once the C8 Corvette came out in 2019.

Japanese cars like the LC500 -- Mk4 Supra, NA NSX, NC NSX -- don't usually sell well because the Japanese brands haven't built a broad fan base for sportscars based on a consistent ability to buy them. Want a faster Corvette, a faster 911? Wait a year. Every year. Want a sportscar from Toyota or Honda? There is no consistent model that you can buy every year, because these cars are always a fight between engineering "we need a halo car!" and accounting "they don't make money!".

Lexus has sold 15K LC500s in the US. The NA NSX sold 8900 cars, the Mk4 Supra was 11-12K. The NC NSX is under 3000. All of these cars are appreciating in value now, precisely because there isn't always a new version available. Remember this and every other "sales failure?" thread when the LC500 follows the same trend.

 

Question; what drove you to the 700h vs the 600? I couldn't get past the "hump" in the rear (higher for the dogs to jump).