Wondering if this car will herald a new automotive age... or be a flop?

[rifleshooter]

I have a gut instinct that this little car may come to our market and poop out.

Americans used to LIKE coupes. They bought them, rode around in them, and did everything in them. Four door sedans were considered transportation for the dowdiest of citizens - pensioners. Families drove around in wood-paneled station-wagons. Hip, swinging cool folk drove about in coupes (and if they were particularly saucy, convertibles).

Now, everybody seems to drive an SUV. Never mind the indifferent fuel economy - the most important thing to the American buyer seems to be the ability to load a 46" flat screen TV into the back as you leave Costco.

So I suspect this car will appear on the market, and our tiny cadre of fanboy enthusiasts will rush off to the dealers and plunk down $27k (mark my words, peeps - I've been around too long not expect this kind of mischief), whereupon Scion will sell 10k cars, and few more will darken the garage doors of American drivers. The car will be here and gone in 4 years, the minimum production run of Toyota products. American buyers will see the car as too small, too expensive, too impractical, and not "comfortable enough."

If I am wrong (and I pray I am wrong), perhaps high sales will cause other manufacturers to take note of the enthusiasm of buyers of small, reasonably-priced, fuel-efficient rear-wheel drive cars, and manufacture to meet the demand.

Please, God, let it happen!

[Syldrin]

my 60inch fit in my tc just fine.

just sayin

[miata]

I absolutely agree. $27k will make it fail. It will be no different than any other 2dr RWD coupes that came and left. The market is very small and it will get saturated with in a couple of years. For it to succeed it needs to be a cheap car that can steal buyers from tC, CIVIC, Golf, and so on.

[Longhorn248]

I don't like where this is headed.

[SUB-FT86]

I'll never be without a sports coupe. I dislike every other body style of a automobile in general. Die hard coupe lover to the death of me.

[tranzformer]

Originally Posted by rifleshooter

If I am wrong (and I pray I am wrong), perhaps high sales will cause other manufacturers to take note of the enthusiasm of buyers of small, reasonably-priced, fuel-efficient rear-wheel drive cars, and manufacture to meet the demand.

http://www.ft86club.com/forums/showthread.php?t=3097

[Dunkindoanuts]

Originally Posted by rifleshooter

I have a gut instinct that this little car may come to our market and poop out.

Americans used to LIKE coupes. They bought them, rode around in them, and did everything in them. Four door sedans were considered transportation for the dowdiest of citizens - pensioners. Families drove around in wood-paneled station-wagons. Hip, swinging cool folk drove about in coupes (and if they were particularly saucy, convertibles).

Now, everybody seems to drive an SUV. Never mind the indifferent fuel economy - the most important thing to the American buyer seems to be the ability to load a 46" flat screen TV into the back as you leave Costco.

So I suspect this car will appear on the market, and our tiny cadre of fanboy enthusiasts will rush off to the dealers and plunk down $27k (mark my words, peeps - I've been around too long not expect this kind of mischief),

the car wont flop cause "everybody seems to drive an SUV" i think cash for clunkers changed that a bit, at least in my town. It would flop because the economy sucks and sports cars are considered a "luxury" item.

Auto makers have adjusted to the economy and the way the consumer now thinks. ie. constantly stressing fuel economy ,resale value and their warranties.

I don't think the car will be the next TC/g35 in terms of sales #'s ( idk the sales #s, but i see them... everywhere), but i bet itll beat its sales expectations of toyota to warrant consistent releases. I don't know much about car history, but a supra was seemingly more successful than the celica. if i could compare the br-z/fr-s will be successful like the supra(based off how popular it is today, idk sales #'s) because of the market that it targets( not sure why the celica wasn't succesful, i assume over priced?)

honestly im sure toyota has thought about the price long and hard. they know in this economy the consumer is thinking affordability, what can we get the best bang for our buck? i agree, if its 27k the car will flop and die because of the market it is catered to( fresh college grads making 35-50k a year) if the car is priced at 27k that would be people in the market for a 27-35k car(making 50-70k a year, 4-8 yrs into their career)

[Shevon]

Thats where the BRZ premium will be, right arond 27k. So who knows, once pricing is out we will see

[Dave-ROR]

Originally Posted by rifleshooter

I have a gut instinct that this little car may come to our market and poop out.

Americans used to LIKE coupes. They bought them, rode around in them, and did everything in them. Four door sedans were considered transportation for the dowdiest of citizens - pensioners. Families drove around in wood-paneled station-wagons. Hip, swinging cool folk drove about in coupes (and if they were particularly saucy, convertibles).

Now, everybody seems to drive an SUV. Never mind the indifferent fuel economy - the most important thing to the American buyer seems to be the ability to load a 46" flat screen TV into the back as you leave Costco.

So I suspect this car will appear on the market, and our tiny cadre of fanboy enthusiasts will rush off to the dealers and plunk down $27k (mark my words, peeps - I've been around too long not expect this kind of mischief), whereupon Scion will sell 10k cars, and few more will darken the garage doors of American drivers. The car will be here and gone in 4 years, the minimum production run of Toyota products. American buyers will see the car as too small, too expensive, too impractical, and not "comfortable enough."

If I am wrong (and I pray I am wrong), perhaps high sales will cause other manufacturers to take note of the enthusiasm of buyers of small, reasonably-priced, fuel-efficient rear-wheel drive cars, and manufacture to meet the demand.

Please, God, let it happen!

I'll happily enjoy owning one of the 4 model years then.

[Dimman]

If they only last 4 years, then all Toyota has to do is hype up an newer-better replacement model to replace it. Not rocket science.

Unfortunately with Toyota's planning, that would mean they would have to start the concept and hype machine for the next one, right about the time this one releases.

[RRnold]

Originally Posted by rifleshooter

I have a gut instinct that this little car may come to our market and poop out.

Americans used to LIKE coupes. They bought them, rode around in them, and did everything in them. Four door sedans were considered transportation for the dowdiest of citizens - pensioners. Families drove around in wood-paneled station-wagons. Hip, swinging cool folk drove about in coupes (and if they were particularly saucy, convertibles).

Now, everybody seems to drive an SUV. Never mind the indifferent fuel economy - the most important thing to the American buyer seems to be the ability to load a 46" flat screen TV into the back as you leave Costco.

So I suspect this car will appear on the market, and our tiny cadre of fanboy enthusiasts will rush off to the dealers and plunk down $27k (mark my words, peeps - I've been around too long not expect this kind of mischief), whereupon Scion will sell 10k cars, and few more will darken the garage doors of American drivers. The car will be here and gone in 4 years, the minimum production run of Toyota products. American buyers will see the car as too small, too expensive, too impractical, and not "comfortable enough."

If I am wrong (and I pray I am wrong), perhaps high sales will cause other manufacturers to take note of the enthusiasm of buyers of small, reasonably-priced, fuel-efficient rear-wheel drive cars, and manufacture to meet the demand.

Please, God, let it happen!

I agree, this car is aimed towards a smaller group and isn't meant to compete with those who prefer an SUV. Look at the current sales trend of the tC from when it was first introduced till now. A continued success of this car will depend on either Toyota and Subaru to keep pushing the envelope and make this car better than the previous model. With the FR-S and BRZ already receiving excellent reviews, this would be an even tougher task but I'm sure Toyota can step up to the task, especially since they plan to update it more frequently.

[KevinDuMa]

Originally Posted by Shevon

Thats where the BRZ premium will be, right arond 27k. So who knows, once pricing is out we will see

You mean the limited will be around $27 grand right? There hasn't been official price information released yet but reviews and rumors have been putting price around $24 grand for premium and $27 grand for limited.

[Dragonitti]

Originally Posted by rifleshooter

The car will be here and gone in 4 years, the minimum production run of Toyota products. American buyers will see the car as too small, too expensive, too impractical, and not "comfortable enough."

If that were the case, I would think that the Miata, 350z, 370z's, etc...would not be here.

[GregV]

Why does the AS1 need to do one or the other? You don't need to "herald a new automotive age" in order for this car to be a success for Subaru/Toyota.