Good story on 86 Competitors

[monkie]

HI All,

Was reading this artical on Sydney Morning Herald today and thought i might post it up, some good reading.

I love the answers that Mazda are saying could not stop laughing when they said

‘‘The MX-5 represents good value for anyone looking for a rear-wheel-drive, two-seater convertible and fun-to-drive sports car,’’ she says. ‘‘Mazda MX-5 offers customers a totally different experience to the 86 and the BRZ.’’

Who are they KIDDING :belly roll:

Well enjoy the reading

Toyota 86 fighters



In-demand coupe has rivals re-thinking their two-door options.

Buyers may be waiting up to a year to get behind the wheel of Toyota’s cheap and cheerful 86 coupe, but for those who can’t, there’s not going to be much joy anywhere else - for now.

Car makers including Volkswagen, Mazda and Renault say the $29,990 price of entry to get behind the wheel of the 86 isn’t about to force them to make their smallest performance models any cheaper.

However, while Volkswagen says it is unmoved on the Golf GTI’s $40,490 price tag, it now says the 86’s cheap entry price opens up room for a cut-price version of the three-door Scirocco R - a move it has struggled to justify in the past.

Advertisement: Story continues below
‘‘I think at the moment we are doing pretty well when it comes to the positioning of the GTI,’’ Volkswagen Australia managing director Anke Koeckler says.

‘‘But certainly, if there is anything happening in the market, we are looking to see if we have to make any amendments - but for the time being, and until next year, I don’t think we have to do any [price] amendments.’’

More: Dealers cashing-in on Toyota 86

Next year marks the Australian showroom arrival of the next-generation Golf hatchback, with the car lined up for its international first look later this year at the Paris motor show.

In the meanwhile, VW will look at where the next-generation Golf GTI will find its place in the Australian market.

‘‘Let’s look at what the market does do [in response to the 86’s pricing] and whether there is a need [to cut the Golf GTI’s price],’’ Koeckler says.

‘‘However, we still think it [the Golf GTI] is still a very competitively priced package and customers are always giving us feedback about the great price point.

‘‘We’re not worried [about the Toyota 86].’’

More: Toyota 86 Coupe Road Test

While Koeckler says the exterior of the Golf will only be ‘‘evolutionary’’, with the German car maker reluctant to mess around too much with its successful small car formula, the interior will introduce a radical change.

While Volkswagen remains unmoved on the Golf, though, its thoughts appear to have changed about introducing a lower-priced version of the Scirocco - but buyers will have to wait until at least 2015 when a new version of the three-door is introduced.

Volkswagen has introduced the Scirocco as a single-model R-badged performance hero, priced from $47,490 before on-roads.

However, Koeckler says the Toyota 86 has shown there’s a case for expanding the Scirocco range to include a cheaper version.

She says that while for this generation of the hatchback an expanded model line-up was not needed, the German car maker would now look to bring in at least two versions in the next generation.

The Golf is an important model for Volkswagen, accounting for two out of five of the German brand’s Australian sales.

Of the Golfs sold, two out of five wear the GTI badge, and one in 10 leaves the showroom bearing the more performance-honed R badge.

Waiting lists for GTI versions of the Golf and Polo, and the Scirocco R, are still sitting at around six to 12 months as buyers tend to favour personalised versions of the cars rather than buying directly off the showroom floor.

Mazda says it doesn’t consider the 86 a competitor to its rear-drive sports car, the MX-5.

The Japanese car maker overnight revealed a facelifted version of the MX-5, featuring a Mazda3-style nose, changes to trim, and a remapped brake pedal and accelerator to give the car a more sporty feel.

It also includes a pop-up bonnet that can help to reduce the injuries to any pedestrian unfortunate enough to step out in front of it.

Mazda hopes to have the facelifted version of the MX-5 in Australia in time for October's Sydney motor show, with an Australian market launch before year's end.

Mazda Australia spokeswoman Emma Karkar says a direct comparison purely on the Mazda’s $44,265 starting price is not a good one.

More: New sports coupe undercuts hot-hatch rivals by $10,000

‘‘The MX-5 represents good value for anyone looking for a rear-wheel-drive, two-seater convertible and fun-to-drive sports car,’’ she says. ‘‘Mazda MX-5 offers customers a totally different experience to the 86 and the BRZ.’’

That reference to the BRZ is a nod to the 86’s twin-under-the-skin, the Subaru BRZ, which was developed in collaboration with Toyota. It is not yet on sale here, but Subaru is expected to announce a price for its single-model entry to the market, which is expected to compete more with Toyota’s hero version of the 86, the GTS, which prices it from about $35,000.

Meanwhile, Renault says it is still far too early to say whether the 86 will have any influence on its $41,990 RenaultSport Megane 250, or even the fourth-generation Renault Sport Clio due on sale here late next year.

The RS-badged Clio will differ markedly from its current format. The French car maker has already confirmed it will be a five-door hatchback rather than the current model’s three-door, replace the traditionally normally aspirated engine with a turbocharged version, and swap out the traditional manual transmission for a dual-clutch automated unit.

Peugeot is also expected to soon have a GTi version of its all-new 208 hatchback, although it is yet to confirm a production-ready model of its performance hero after the release of a concept version of the car earlier this year.

[JDMSushi]

‘‘The MX-5 represents good value for anyone looking for a rear-wheel-drive, two-seater convertible and fun-to-drive sports car,’’ she says. ‘‘Mazda MX-5 offers customers a totally different experience to the 86 and the BRZ.’’

[Billy2224]

i think everyone is forgetting that all these cars besides the mx-5 air HATCHES. They will always be more practical and appeal to a larger market. The 86 still is something different all together, i can't see anyone having a difficult time choosing a 86 to a Scirocco based on driving performance..

[JiB]

it performs that much better?