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- Aug 12, 2014
I'm sure people will buy them, and with just 2000 it's not going to be hard to sell them out. But my main question is, what does it bring to the table? I thought the same thing with the IS F. Don't get me wrong, I love whenever someone tries to take on the German sports sedans which is why the Cadillac V-series are some of my favorite cars. But just like the IS F, I don't know how Lexus can charge so much (or at least in comparison to its competition), while not making enough of a case for itself.
People won't cross-shop the GS F with any of the top-trim performance sedans, but they can and will compare it to the mid-tier ones such as the 550i, S6, CTS Vsport and E400, all of which are $15-20k cheaper, offer similar numbers, and once again, the brand. And even after optioning them out, they're still cheaper than the GS F. Prestige-focused buyers might not drop extra on the badge, but when they can get what is a comparable car with a European badge, I'll put my money on them going with one of those.
Once again, I don't doubt they'll sell. Saab Turbo Xs were $45k when they came over here but they all sold cause Saab had loyal buyers, like I'm sure Lexus does. I'm just not sure of what their goal is - is it to branch into the performance sedan market? Is it just to sell a few cars? Or create a new image? If Lexus is marketing the GS F as a driver's car, well the idea of a driver's luxury car is a bit of an oxymoron, and without a manual or track focus, isn't it just a glorified cruiser? How do you get people to come to the dealership and check it out, when your sales line is "it's a driver's car", when Lexus isn't even known for making driver's cars? Cadillac knew it was tough to break into that segment, but they marketed the V's ring time and technology like crazy and people had to give it a thought.
It's tough to attract new customers when you don't have a selling point. Even Cadillac had/has this issue, with their 2nd gen CTS-V and current ATS-V. Both cars are fantastic, many reviewers even said the ATS-V is as good as the current M3. But people still want and buy the M3 because it's an M3. So if even Cadillac's performance monsters are having this issue, what's Lexus going to do when their only point is that they put their high-performance badge on what is effectively a mid-performance car? This is setting the F line back. Lexus isn't even known for having sporty cars, but if they were trying to change that with IS F and LFA, both of which at least competed at the highest level, why not continue the trend with the GS F is my question.
I don't dislike the GS F and I don't hate on any cars. But yes, I am confused as to who they're trying to push this car to, apart from loyal Lexus owners.
People won't cross-shop the GS F with any of the top-trim performance sedans, but they can and will compare it to the mid-tier ones such as the 550i, S6, CTS Vsport and E400, all of which are $15-20k cheaper, offer similar numbers, and once again, the brand. And even after optioning them out, they're still cheaper than the GS F. Prestige-focused buyers might not drop extra on the badge, but when they can get what is a comparable car with a European badge, I'll put my money on them going with one of those.
Once again, I don't doubt they'll sell. Saab Turbo Xs were $45k when they came over here but they all sold cause Saab had loyal buyers, like I'm sure Lexus does. I'm just not sure of what their goal is - is it to branch into the performance sedan market? Is it just to sell a few cars? Or create a new image? If Lexus is marketing the GS F as a driver's car, well the idea of a driver's luxury car is a bit of an oxymoron, and without a manual or track focus, isn't it just a glorified cruiser? How do you get people to come to the dealership and check it out, when your sales line is "it's a driver's car", when Lexus isn't even known for making driver's cars? Cadillac knew it was tough to break into that segment, but they marketed the V's ring time and technology like crazy and people had to give it a thought.
It's tough to attract new customers when you don't have a selling point. Even Cadillac had/has this issue, with their 2nd gen CTS-V and current ATS-V. Both cars are fantastic, many reviewers even said the ATS-V is as good as the current M3. But people still want and buy the M3 because it's an M3. So if even Cadillac's performance monsters are having this issue, what's Lexus going to do when their only point is that they put their high-performance badge on what is effectively a mid-performance car? This is setting the F line back. Lexus isn't even known for having sporty cars, but if they were trying to change that with IS F and LFA, both of which at least competed at the highest level, why not continue the trend with the GS F is my question.
I don't dislike the GS F and I don't hate on any cars. But yes, I am confused as to who they're trying to push this car to, apart from loyal Lexus owners.