Quote:
Originally Posted by Tcoat
So, when people look at these cars, only see the top end performance versions and don't even notice all those base models running around they miss the point of what is actually keeping them on the market. If people stopped buying the base the whole lineup would be gone in a flash since there would no longer be the income to warrant building the performance ones.
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20 years ago I had the same arguments with people over why Nissan stopped selling the S15 Silvia and R34 GT-R.
I basically asked people if they would fork over $25k for a S15... but then the argument went downhill once you looked up sales numbers for the 2nd gen Eclipse base models vs the performance GS-T w/ 4G63 engines. You could take the same argument and look at Z32 sales numbers (NA vs TT), Supra sales numbers, 3000GT sales numbers...
The problem always exists: "everyone" wants their own "pure" sports cars, but there simply isn't enough of the public to justify building them. Japan may have had all the cool cars for a long time, but do you know what sells there? K-cars. Cars below 1600cc or 1300cc. Cars that work in streets in Tokyo and Osaka and other places with tiny streets.
In the end, everyone has a say but no one is thankful that Toyota had the balls to pull this one off, especially considering how fiscally conservative they are as a global company.
-alex