Lexus LFA the £325,000 Supra

Road tests of new cars often decry the accountants and marketing men as interfering with a good design. To be honest a great product for a company should ensure that all three elements work in harmony, which may well explain why the Ferrari F50 sold 3.5 times the number that the Mclaren F1 managed as Ferrari almost certainly understood the marketing side far better than Mclaren did.


Rather like the Mclaren the Toyota engineers seem to have got rather carried away and produced a hugely expensive car. The Mclaren however is considered an engineering masterpiece, whereas on the face of it the Lexus LFA does not seem too offer anything more than the like of the Ferrari 458 and (possibly ironically) the Mclaren MP4-12C, which cost maybe half the price.


I'm not that keen on the styling which seems to be an updated version of the Toyota Supra so loved by the Fast & Furious set. However it does sound good in the video above with an almost F1 like wail, and very similar to the Porsche Carrera GT.


I can't see the LFA being a sucess in Europe as the Lexus brand struggles to cover a £70,000 car yet alone a £300,000 plus one. It will probably do slightly better in the States where the Lexus brand has much greater penetration, but even there will Lexus be able to find the 500 buyers to fill out the production run.


Where the car will probably score and possibly help to give the brand some much needed credibility with be in the cyber world. A high performance car in either or both of Forza 3 and Gran Turismo 5 will possibly make the Lexus brand appeal to a younger generation.

Doubt that this  is going to do much recoup the development costs of what is already said to be a loss making car.  I do hope that it doesn't put Toyota off building sportscars though, most of the world's largest car makers products are extremely bland and anything to increase that trend cannot be good