Another thing to consider regarding importing of goods is the exchange rate of purchase.

Now we know that cars don't normally drop a tonne in price for consumers but for dealers and importers it does vary a fair bit.

Assume for a second that Toyota buy these 86 at a conversion rate of 1.07 (aus=1.07US or Aus = 73yen) and the price is set at $30000.

Now if the $$ goes up, say around 1.12 or 78yen all of a sudden these cars are cheaper to buy/import but yet we the customer still pay the same which = bigger $$ for Toyota Aus, but it works the other way too, if the Aus $$ drops its ass then the cars cost more to import.

There would be a general average conversion figure they use and Toyota would have to allow for the ups and downs, meaning to cover their arses we usually pay more then we need too.

Its likely that we will see that maybe in 1-2 yrs time the 86 will have free ORC to keep the hype up and keep the flow of cars into Aus, no different then any other manufacture, selling last year models cheaper for the new years build plate to come thru.

Another reason not too buy straight away i guess. Give them time to iron out bugs too.

not quite. All companies that buy foreign goods at such high quantity will hedge the currency to reduce/eliminate currency movements lost. as the article posted above indicated, it's not unusual that manufacturers hedge the currency months in advance.

the price of the cars are set with the exchange rate hedged. while AUD gain against whatever currancy that they need to make the payments in, they still need to pay whatever the exchange rate hedged. therefore until they hedge the next batch of foreign currency, they still need to pay whatever amount that was hedged in the last batch. so they aren't really ripping customers off and not passing on the AUD gain becos they don't have any gain until the next time they hedge.

while i'm fine with the above practice, i am not happy with those companies that take advantage and put price up immediately when AUD goes down.

Very big large Mathematical equations are used, much to big for my pea brain.

lol hedging, why do they complicate things 100x more then it needs to.

haha. the concept is not complicated. the workings are tho.

in simple terms, you entered into a contract with a financial institution (eg. a bank) to buy a foreign currency at an agreed exchange rate (plus bank fees obviously lol) at a future time. then during this period, whether AUD goes up or down won't effect you.

if AUD goes up then u will "lose" (ie. you need to pay more to buy the currency than you will need to if you didn't hedge) but if AUD goes down then you will "gain".

once currency is hedged, manufacturers can set the selling price of the product they sell, free of any currency movement so the price can stay constant. obviously there are other factors that will effect price but FX will not be one.

Its likely they cost on moving average.

In short, they win some they loose some whilst maintaing a flat rate list price.

So yes there are periods where units are sold at a larger GP and there are periods when units are sold at a lower GP (sometimes loss)

in the end the GP is the healthy for the company.

actually not quite.

once fx is hedged, they know immediately the currency cost and will then set price according to that. their margin is then set unless their price is changed and then the cycle continues for their next hedge.

in theory, as currancy flutuate they would "lose some and gain some" but in practice there is no gain or loss as currency no longer flutuates once hedged.

also as AUD gains, manufacturers usually add more features than reduce price becos it stablises the used price. providing cheap finance deals would give the same effect: cheaper overall cost while maintain stable used car price.

do people really not think that the price is so much more higher due to taxes and Australias protectionist policies?

take a look at European cars? it been going on for years so the people that think toyota will stick by there word then there dreaming.

I'm sure Japanese cars cop similar taxes

exchange rates, hedging and different markets aside do you really think it would equal 30-40% more than the US price? a large percentage has to do with the protectionist policy. This fact is not hidden and rather supported by the government.:mad0260:

Currency is only one fluctuating factor... I wasn't just referring to currency.

The Mazda MX-5 starts at MSRP $23, 470 in America and MSRP $42, 460 in Australia. The Australian dollar is also slightly higher valued than the US dollar. If this is any clue, the 86 will probably cost at least $42, 000 here before on-road costs. :|

America also has much more sports coupes available for less than $25, 000 which aresn't sold in Australia at all (Mitsubishi Eclipse, Hyundai Genesis Coupe, Camaro, Mustang, Challenger etc.).

The only coupe for less than $25, 000 in Australia is the Kia Cerato Koup. lol

there is a Veloster now at $24k + ORC.

Mazda MX5 is over priced here. Mazda adds a big fat margin as there is no competitor and it has a good following.

Oh wow. Seems to be a competitor to the Suzuki Swift Sport as they are both sporty with 1.6L engines.

Well hopefully the base manual 86 ends up costing less than $40, 000 here then. ;)

personally i'd take the Swift Sport over Veloster any day of the week.....

Me too. ;)

the new Swift Sport is loaded with features now. including HID, keyless start, 17" wheels, bluetooth etc. compared with the old model, not bad for $24k + ORC.