Quote:
Originally Posted by Sport-Tech
Don't disagree with any of that - but my point is that Toyota may not sell the volume of 86s they plan to with its new higher price and less attractive look relative to the BRZ. If 86s start to sit around for many weeks on dealer lots the inevitable discounting will make Toyota think carefully about offering future versions. This is no halo car for Toyota - the new Supra will assume that role. And I did say that BRZs outselling 86s would only happen if Subaru Canada has access to the needed inventory should demand rise appreciably.
The disproportionate dealer ratio you mention should not be much of a constraint on BRZ sales in urban areas where 80% of the population is based, and where the average resident is within 1/2 an hour or so of a Subaru dealer - but it could be an issue out in the rural areas. Even with the 2016s, despite having 5 times the # of dealerships (if your claim is correct), Toyota/Scion had only 50-100% more twin sales than Subaru. And the three Subie dealers I have dealt with in the GTA have seemed more than eager to sell me a BRZ; this notion that Subaru dealerships don't care about selling BRZs seems apocryphal and unsubstantiated. it's true neither company does much to advertise the car.
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Yes, if cars start to sit at dealers the whole picture changes. That is exactly what I have said all along. The whole look thing is subjective and wether you or I don't like it is meaningless. The general public may love the new look and the cars could fly off the shelf. That remains to be seen.
When I say that Subaru isn't all that interested I am talking at a corporate level not the individual dealerships. How many BRZ ads have you ever seen? I know that my answer to that is a big fat zero. Nothing. Nada. Zip. Zilch. They have never pushed the car but the rest of their entire line up shows up everyplace I look. I know that this is a fan forum so the concept that everybody that buys one isn't an enthusiast seems odd but more of these cars are bought by Joe or Jill public that fell across it at a dealer than those that followed it. That is simply the way things go. I am a great example of that since although I read something about the car back in 2010 I never followed it. The car I own is literally the first one I ever saw in pictures or real life. This is how most of these cars were bought not by the fanboy that followed it through development and production. Taking that thought into account if Scion sold as many as they did with their very small dealer base then Toyota should easily surpass that. Subaru will still take a back seat since they just won't have as many middle aged housewives walking onto a lot and saying "Oh that is cute. I love that colour" and that is how way more cars are sold.