[wbradley]

If anything, I'd think Toyota and Subaru want to transition into a more equipped, more expensive vehicle to make a reasonable margin if possible. I see the new Toyota 86 is $29,995 base price in Canada. When it was a Scion the base was $26K in 2012 and only went up I think $400 in 4 years. In my mind this was a result of economy of scale, since the amortized cost of factory setup would have been mostly covered and the units need to keep moving to generate revenue. Now that we have a full-fledged Toyota, the general public doesn't need to be convinced of the Scion basic philosophy and will consider a more deluxe package.

I do realize there are many on this forum who will go on how the history of most sports cars is that they evolve into bloated overweight tubs in subsequent generations. In fact, though this doesn't appease the track junkie that strips his interior, it usually attracts more customers who didn't already purchase, provides an up sell to those that did, and typically generates better margin than a stripped down basic low price point vehicle. The first generation served to establish a following that will hopefully allow the manufacturer to benefit a bit more selling the 2nd generation.

The Supra cannot replace the twins, but will provide a nice up sell to people like myself who might transition to the next exciting vehicle. The step up will be considerable, so a higher level twin could fill the gap in between and also potentially sell in significant numbers.

There is a lot of benefit that a halo car can bring to a product lineup, such as helping sell $35K well equipped twins to those that admire but cannot spend $60K + on t Supra.

There will need to be certain similarities between the Supra and the next 86. Perhaps a "hot button" or two.

Yes I have been in sales a very very long time, beginning with new cars. lol