Quote:
Originally Posted by daiheadjai
To be fair, those cars were all comparatively high-priced near-supercars because of the cutting edge technology they had.
Coupled with the economic turmoil in Japan, exchange rate fluctuations and increasingly stringent emissions, they simply could not survive at those prices.
I don't think it was competition that killed them - they just couldn't survive in that environment.
Conversely, the Integra, Celica, Eclipse/Talon twins etc. did pretty well at that time.
The difference was the price point (and I note: factoring in inflation, the Toyobaru twins are actually amazingly cheap - definitely less than the last RSX-S and Celica GT-S).
Methinks the RX8 was done in by the MPGs and relatively high-maintenance rotary engine, and not competition.
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yes they did cost more. i give you that. but i wouldnt put the twins in the same class with those fwd cars. market wise, it kinda sits in where the MR2 left off. its funny because all of those cars that you listed also got discontinued
one reason why the RX8 was dropped was because of its MPG. Mazda is reported to be working on a new rotary that will boost MPG by like 20% or so.
the main point is i guess we can kinda debate the small stuff all day. but when it comes down to it the twins are a niche product. if Nissan and or Honda were to enter this segment sales will most likely be stolen. Toyota will have less of the pie if you will, and with poor sales lend to discontinuation. i believe one of many reasons why the twins are doing good to decent in terms of sales is because the only other import that kinda competes i guess would be the MX-5 Miata (and some would say the FWD Si).
don't get me wrong, i welcome competition. but sales and shares maybe lost and than maybe no 2nd gen twins
