Click above for high-res gallery of the Lexus LF-A Roadster
The last time we talked about the price of the Lexus LF-A, we had only the car's price in China and a whole lot of speculation to go on. The car's retail in China was set at $264,700, and based on that a Lexus fan site did it's best guestimation to arrive at a US price of approximately $130,000. Say it with us now: oh boy, was that wrong.
Lexus has said the first number of the car's price will be a "2," and Inside Line has word that the car might run $225,000. That is more than either a Gallardo or an F430 Spider, including European delivery and two weeks of vacation in Via Reggio. The LF-A convertible will cost even more.
Inside Line says "Lexus is gunning for the Italians." With that kind of price, we actually believe Lexus is sidestepping the Italians and has simply declared, "Your comparisons are futile, this is the best. If you want it, this is the price." It's almost as audacious as the Babe's called shot. And we respect audacity. But we respect performance even more, so we'll be watching closely to see what kind of chops the race version of the LF-A showcases at the 'Ring.
[Source: Inside Line]
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Reader Comments (Page 1 of 5)
Adam @ May 21st 2008 10:59AM
FAIL.
naggs @ May 21st 2008 11:17AM
what makes toyota think that they can sell a $200k supercar under a brand that has as close to no performance image as anything this side of ... well ... toyota...
Frank @ May 21st 2008 11:24AM
ditto.
R Nair @ May 21st 2008 11:54AM
I'm not sure if this model would work, but you can never count Toyota out of the race. We all did it once in the past and look at it going past GM and taking the number one spot. If they post good numbers and the kind of reliability that most of their cars have (which the Italians don't always get right) then, may be it would make sense in buying a really expensive car from them!
elindiano @ May 21st 2008 12:03PM
and i thought those new lexus ads were anoying!!!
"can you feel the blah blah leather made from the asses of royal cows? of course you can't. the only way you can is to visit your lexus dealer.?
FAIL.
psarhjinian @ May 21st 2008 12:02PM
That's what they said about the Corvette, NSX and GT-R, and it ended up scaring the bejeezus out of the Italians.
Heck, the NSX, like the Vette before it (and like the GT-R is likely to). singlehandedly forced other exotic makes to rethink what customers were willing to accept, not because of what the NSX was, but because of what it wasn't:
* Ergonomically, it wasn't a flake. It was more or less as friendly as an Accord. No weird shifter gate, contorted seating position, useless ventilation or compromised visibility.
* Mechanically, it wasn't a princess. You could drive an NSX to work every day and it'd only need regular service at sane intervals. No 250-mile service intervals, no thousand-dollar oil changes, no waiting six months for parts.
The LF-A might not be quite as outright capable as a Gallardo, 599, SLR or such, but it'll likely be infinitely easier to live with, which, really, if you're in this market is probably fairly important. Sure, the ultra-rich will still but their toys, but they'll buy this, too. For those slightly less well off, the Lexus will probably be the go-to choice.
No, the mags and spec racers won't proclaim it the victor. They don't award the Camry or Corvette the crown that often, either, and those two outsell thier competition regularly.
Adam @ May 21st 2008 12:03PM
Yeah um... FAIL.
Josh @ May 21st 2008 12:35PM
@ psarhjinian
Yeah but, the NSX also UNDERCUTTED the competition also. I completely agree with your point, and I loved the NSX because it brought Honda real-life sensibility to supercars, but it was still cheaper than a comparable Italian supercar.
This on the other hand, is a dumb move. C'mon. Toyota thinks it can charge just as much as a Merc SL for its SC, but which one dominates the super-luxo coupe market?
I think Toyota's got a little too big of a head.
Cole Mitguard @ May 21st 2008 1:08PM
This is just about the funniest thing I have head in a while. Toyota... a company that has not proved themselves on the track (some have with their engines, but not the actual company sponsored cars), not impressed anyone with the performance of their base model cars, have not made a car that could even be considered a real sports car since the Supra, and have NEVER built a super car. And they come out and release something in the 200k realm. I dont care if they brand it as a SUPER LEXUS, there is no way a Lexus should be in the price range, and any customer shopping with that kind of money is not going to want to spend it on something that has... no background. And mainly, it does not have the physical forte of a supercar, and for most who will buy in this price range, appearance is everything. This is a joke, Toyota should realize that if it wants to enter a car segment, that it should follow its tried and true Japanese system of making a car equal in performance to the big boys, making it half the price, and once people respect them, raise the prices and go for the market share kill.
Mason @ May 21st 2008 8:23PM
I think we should be a little careful about this because we don't really know how fast it is. I work for a transmission design company that designed the tunrdas 6-speed. We tried to bid for designing the LF-1's auto box and Toyota responded with "you got anything under 40ms?". As a result they are going to use a modified version of the race spec transmission that should shift in 40-45ms. Bolt that to a 580+HP (and yes that is what the prototypes are running around with right now) v10 and keep weight in the 3500lbs range and you could realistically see 0-60 times under 3.4. Thats LP640 territory. How will the car handle? We really have no way of knowing since it surly wont resemble the life-less steering of the ls460. Better steering than a 430? No
tekdemon @ May 22nd 2008 3:18AM
@Josh
Well the SL dominating the SC isn't entirely surprising seeing as how the SC is basically just being kept alive on life support for the few people who continually buy them-it hasn't been seriously updated in eons.
But just look at LS sales vs S class sales...it used to be that Mercedes dominated the class without question but the LS has basically managed to steal away one of MB's bread and butter luxury cars. LS sales now outnumber S class sales.
I'd say that Lexus just thinks that it's time it started charging obscene prices too. And the truth is that a lot of the people who switched their S Classes for LSes are probably not going to mind switching their AMGs for the LF-A.
Whether Lexus has gone too far with the pricing remains to be seen, but in the "insane luxury" game sometimes having a higher sticker price is part of the snob appeal. If you're really going for exclusivity you probably don't want a car that's in the 130K range, since that's the realm of "mere" 911's lol.
Glenn @ May 21st 2008 11:02AM
Failx2
elindiano @ May 21st 2008 12:04PM
this is how the price was set:
lexus engineer, "hey we have this great car, goes really fast, we could make tons on money with this car. what do you think we should sell it for?"
lexus accountant, "we should sell it for over 200k."
lexus engineer, "dont you think thats a little expensive, thats more than some ferrari's?"
lexus accountant, "im not interested in making money!"
lexus engineer, "well, then do i still have to build them?"
Cary @ May 21st 2008 11:54PM
I think you meant: FAIL 2.0
Allan @ May 21st 2008 11:04AM
Do you think they're laughing in Maranello?
Mobius_1 @ May 21st 2008 11:32AM
And Sant'Agata, for that matter, and maybe also in Stuttgart and Ingolstadt
No way I would buy this thing over a F430 or Gallardo or even 911 or R8 (or even GT-R!)
JD @ May 21st 2008 6:03PM
For so many reasons..... if Toyota is still planning on launching this when they win their first Grand Prix in F1(as I had last heard), that will be a while yet. Because Ferrari, McLaren are the front runners. BMW is moving that direction in a big way this season, but as long as the boys in Maranello keep winning in F1, they can also ensure that Toyota never actually launches this overpriced thing.
Talisman @ May 21st 2008 11:05AM
bad move
spdracerut @ May 21st 2008 11:06AM
It better weigh no more than 2500 lbs for that much money.
Iridium @ May 21st 2008 11:07AM
Fail in proportions not seen since welll ever.
I'm sure it is a nice car with good specs but a Gallardo, F430, Maserati, Ford GT, or many others it is not.
The styling just isn't there to compete with exotic cars in the $250k realm. $120k they may have sold a few but $250k they have to be out of thier minds.