Mark Rechtin of Automotive News has published his first impressions of the 2013 ES, and included some interesting numbers:
Lexus hopes to sell about 100,000 units a year, 50,000 to 60,000 of them in the United States. Prices won’t be announced until closer to the car’s August on-sale date, but executives said the sticker should remain close to that of the current model’s $37,150, including freight. Still, with the strong yen and more content, expect some price bump.
In 2008, the ES 350 sold 64,135 units, and in 2011, the ES sold 40,873 units — with these two numbers in mind, Lexus’ estimate of 50-60k sales in the USA seems conservative, especially with the introduction of a hybrid powertrain.
As for pricing, I wouldn’t expect it to jump too much — after all, the GS price didn’t increase at all with the new 2013 model, and no major price adjustments seems like a good strategy to follow.
A bigger question is the how the ES 300h will be priced — in order to fuel my speculation, let’s turn to the Toyota Camry, which shares the same engines:
- Camry XLE (3.5L V6): $30,115
- Camry XLE Hybrid (2.5L 4-cylinder hybrid): $27,500
Not to suggest that the ES 300h will be $2,615 cheaper than the ES 350 — after all, the ES hybrid gets additional standard equipment like the bamboo wood trim and a rear spoiler — but I get the feeling that pricing between the two will be very close.
One final thing to consider is sales of the ES 350 vs. ES 300h — Lexus expects the ES 300h to make up only 25% of overall sales, but what if pricing is so similar that it becomes a personal decision rather than a monetary one? Which would you choose?
[Source: Automotive News]
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