Toys4RJill

Lexus as a brand has no issues moving this car. It is very expensive...so speed of sale is not relevant. The model is also sold worldwide as well, so you have to realize that North America is not the only market.

swajames

BMW sold 1502 8 Series in Q1 (reasonably close to the 1902 7 Series in the same period).

By way of comparison, 654 Lexus LC were sold in Q1.

The 8 Series outsold the S Class in Q1 (and the S Class and SL combined for that matter) albeit that’s likely due to the new model rolling out.

Toys4RJill

Sales numbers are meaningless at these price points IMO.

swajames

Sales numbers are everything, and they always will be. That’s true regardless of price point. It’s likely to be particularly true at higher price points because a buyer with a bigger budget has way more options open to them than buyers on tighter budgets who cannot trade up.

It’s nothing short of nonsensical to argue one car is more successful than another because it is getting significantly outsold by vehicles aimed at the same demographic.

Toys4RJill

Sales numbers are not everything at these price points. LC or 8 series sales numbers don't matter. Neither does a S class....they make these vehicles for brand image. Without them, the smaller, cheaper stuff does not sell.

swajames

You haven’t been paying attention, Jill.

The thread is about the supposedly slow sales of the 8 Series.

Oh, and just to deliver the coup de grâce to that argument, the 8 Series outsold the Audi A8 and R8 combined. It also outsold the Porsche Boxster and Cayman combined.

It’s doing OK.

and of course you’d have said the exact opposite if the LC were outselling the 8 Series.

which it isn’t.

Toys4RJill

The sales numbers make no difference unless used in proper context, and using one car lines sales numbers to say it is doing better than another is very very misleading. . The 8 series is doing fine for what it is...so is the Lexus LC.. The 8 has more configurations and more performance options...it even has 2 or 4 doors...the LC does not. BMW also has a much stronger heritage in the segment as well. . They are even priced differently as the 8 goes to much higher price points

The title of the thread is misleading as well.

RNM GS3

BMW had a fire sale on 8series - discounts were huge and leases had tremendous incentives to move out the units last few months. Go on bmw forums.

Sclass has a new model coming out so the inventory is not there yet. The SL has pretty much stopped production until the new 2022 model. Therefore your comparison makes no sense.

A company would not lower MSRP by $10k if it was doing well. Also the 8series has coupe, sedan, convertible plus M variant of each and still can’t generate meaningful sales.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

it's true the coupe wasn't selling that well, but the new convertible is selling great (probably 3:1).
right now i just did a search on autotrader. of the 386 2021 LC's available nationwide, 54 are coupes, the other 332 are convertibles (so 6:1)!
since that's lexus' most expensive vehicle, and a niche vehicle being a 2 door convertible, i'm sure lexus is pleased with their sales.
i agree that before the convertible came out though, coupe sales were pretty weak.

jwong77

To me, it makes alot of sense for the LC convertible to sell better than the hardtop. Along the same reasoning, I would bet that the 911 regular Carrera and Carrera S has a higher take rate for their automatic transmission convertibles vs hardtops as well. Probably with cars like the F-Type, Aston Martin DB9, Mercedes SL, too. I think its just what that demographic desires in their 2 door luxury vehicles at that pricepoint.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i'd say it depends on the car because i'd bet porsche sells WAY more non-convertible 911s than convertibles.
the LC convertible price premium is minimal and with top down it's drop dead gorgeous. i personally wanted the coupe though so i could get the performance (dynamic handling) package, cf roof, etc.

anyway, back to the 8 series. i recently took a close look at one in palm springs, ca. i find it pretty ugly and HUGE for what it is. and as has been said, the interior is nothing special. obviously biased, but i think my LC BLOWS it away in design and materials out and in.

Och

iTrader: (3)

LC is a lot more special for sure. The 8 has a better drivetrain, but LC is more unique with its NA V8. I certainly see WAY more 8 series on the road vs the LC, but I don't know what kind of deal BMW offers. I was considering a M8, and took it for a test drive, and was absolutely disappointed.

jwong77

There was a point and time that the BMW brand equity could overcome the subpar driving experience, but unfortunately, that time has come and gone.

I also, agree that the LC is a very special vehicle and is really quite stunning. In 20 years, I think low mileage examples of these cars will be sought after as collector vehicles.

situman

Does anyone really "aspire" to an 8 series BMW? Sales certainly matter. No company, no matter how stupid it is, will create a car to sit there for people to look at. If it aint a desirable car, it wont help the lower end models.

chicagoron

Interesting developments. I did own a '97 850CI and I loved the car, but not the maintenance! It ended up being a huge money pit and everything needed to be fixed. One issue after the next. That's why I ran away from it. It was a great-looking car and very interesting features, just not a good buy for me.