Should Toyota get its own preformance brand?

[madfast]

Originally Posted by Neutral_Eyes

The downside being that you lose all exclusivity and the type of customer that only cares about his car as a status symbol would no longer find value in your product.

which is like 99% of luxury car buyers

[Matador]

Originally Posted by Levi

****mass confusion****

I hope this helped.

Wait what?

[LexusFman]

Who would've thought such a simple subject could be so complicated?

There are 2 types of performance brands

In house tuning divisions (TRD, F-Sport, Mopar, GM Racing, ect.)
All these divisions do is make performance parts for the company's road cars. They make things like exhausts, intakes, coilovers, ect. Sometimes they make different versions (Is-350 F-Sport) but usually only have light mods to the brakes, suspension, ect. and barley have any more horsepower. Currently, It seems Toyota has 2 of these, G Sports and TRD.

Performance Marques (F, AMG, ///M, Type R)
These divisions make trim lines or versions of cars that are far different than the original ones they produced. Usually they either put a larger engine or a Turbocharger in the car, bumping horsepower by 100 horsepower or more. Heavy modifications to the brakes, suspension, and frame are also commonplace. Think Dodge Neon vs SRT4, BMW 335i vs BMW M3, Lexus Is-350 vs Lexus Is-F. Honda Civic vs Honda Civic Type R. Currently Toyota only has Lexus F.

So, Do you think Toyota needs the second type of brand? The GT86 as it is looks like a good platform to tune on BUT I think there is room for improvement and I think Toyota knows that too. Toyota IMO should take the base hachiroku, add lightness somehow, put wider wheels/stickier tires, Turbo/swap,do something with the engine, change suspension to be even better, and draw out the raw potential this car has. If they do that however, they need a name for it. That way if they decide to make faster versions of different cars they can all use the same name. Kinda like how Honda started Type R with the NSX, Toyota could start something else with this car. I also think Toyota should make faster versions of the Corolla/Yaris. Dedicated sports cars are cool but not as practical as a sedan/hatchback. Especially if Toyota makes the faster GT86 ver. the lineup could fit nicely.

Corolla R and/or Yaris R= Around Civic Si in price, more practical.
GT86 R= High 20/low 30k, Dedicated Sports car, not as practical
Supra R= High 30/low 40k, Dedicated Sports car, more expensive.

[Levi]

Originally Posted by MatadorRacing_F1

Wait what?

I can't help.


LexusFman made my explanation more simple.

[Dark]

Originally Posted by Levi

....

Main Brand:
Lexus (= BMW, Mercedes, Audi, VW, Honda, Subaru, Renault...)

Sporty Variant":
Lexus F Sport (= Audi S, VW GTI, Honda Type-S, Renault GT...)

Performance Brand/In-House Tuning Brand/Line:
Lexus F

Toyota/Lexus/Scion Motorsport/testing :
Lexus/Toyota Gazoo Racing (= BMW Motorpsort,...)

Aftermarket Tuning Brand:
Just aftermaket than specialize on some brands and are not affiliated in any way to the main brand even if sometimes relation can be created. Examples: Wald, Amuse, Brabus, G-Power, AC Schnitzer, MTM,...


I hope this helped.

Fixed

[Matador]

Originally Posted by lfawishes

CLOSE THIS THREAD mods. I truly feel brain cells melting away.

Don't often agree with what you have to say, but cheers to this post. :happy0180:

[Palmy]

Originally Posted by JDLM

I think that is what TRD was/is should be ..it has just gotten diluted over time because Toyota has lost its passion

This is where this thread should have ended.

[GenkiElite]

See TRD, S or GTS. SR5?

[LexusFman]

Originally Posted by LSxJunkie

I'm sorry, but that's a pipe dream. Toyota is barely dipping its toe back into the performance market. Nobody I know would buy a "sporty" Corolla or Yaris. The demographic doesn't exist. Those cars are for people who need to get from point A to point B as economically as possible. You know what slots up nicely against the Civic SI? The tC. If Toyota builds a 370Z/Camaro/Mustang competitor, then maybe they can consider doing a premium performance brand. Or hell, just have a TRD edition. They seem to be as fond of tossing that badge around as Chevy is with the SS. However, as of now, there is simply no need for one. Plus, your scheme has too much overlap. If a Nismo GT86 AMG is going to be 30k, it had better be just as fast as a base Supra, because that's the price point it's going to be taking up.

Hey, a man can dream right? I think I'm going to let this thread die now...