The Lexus LFA supercar will only be available to lease in the US, the company has confirmed.
Only 500 units of the £343,000 supercar will be built, and any customers ordering one in the US will have to wait two years before seeing their names in the log book.
Car collecting is big business in the US and a Toyota UK source told Autocar that the decision has been taken to prevent buyers there from keeping their LFAs as unused museum pieces, waiting to appreciate in value.
The move has also been designed to fend off speculators buying the car and then selling it on almost immediately for a large profit. Lexus’s US vice president for sales Brian Smith said speculators buying and selling LFAs would be “damaging the ownership experience”.
“If someone buys it in the first month and then decides to sell it, that could be damaging for the ownership experience,” he said.
“If it is not controlled and hits the speculation market, all bets are off. We want people out driving the car and not parking it in a museum or selling it at an inflated price.”
Last year, Nissan tried a similar scheme to stop GT-Rs getting into the hands of speculators. It explored the idea of getting eBay to ban the sale of GT-Rs for six months, but decided this would be unfair on those who had legitimate reasons to sell their GT-Rs.
With its R8 in the US, Audi tried to stop speculators buying it by making buyers sign an agreement stating that if they sold the car, Audi would be given first refusal. However, the scheme was only voluntary.
A Toyota US spokesman said after the two-year lease period had expired, the customer will be able to purchase their LFA for the outstanding amount, less leasing costs.
Our source said the scheme would not be featuring in Europe, where the car willl be sold in a traditional manner.
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Re: Lexus LFA will be lease only
Re: Lexus LFA will be lease only
How utterly, breathtakingly arrogant of Toyota. You would think they would just be grateful that an enthusiast would be willing to spend such a colossal sum of money on one of their cars without trying to control what the customer does with it afterwards. If someone wants to spend £343,000 on a car and then keep it bubble-wrapped in their garage then that's their decision - not Toyota's.
"The move has also been designed to fend off speculators buying the car and then selling it on almost immediately for a large profit." How big a profit can you make on a £343,000 Toyota when 500 of them is going to be made - a profit might be on the go if they were only building 50 or 100 perhaps - but 500???
“If it is not controlled and hits the speculation market, all bets are off. We want people out driving the car and not parking it in a museum or selling it at an inflated price.” Isn't it down to what the customer wants to do with their new car rather than the manufacturer?
Of course the list price will be over half a million dollars in the US, so if someone is foolish enough to part with that amount of money for a Toyota then they probably deserve what's coming to them. But I'm most surprised by Toyota's attitude on this - I never had them down as being so bloody-minded arrogant. I genuinely hope the car is a flop - no more than Toyota deserves given their attitude.
Re: Lexus LFA will be lease only
LOL. Wouldn't touch one with a barge pole.