Since I've worked at this dealership (5 1/2 years), I've only seen one, new-to-the-model Land Cruiser buyer. All of the LC's we sell are to people that just buy Land Cruisers and nothing else. There's one guy that comes in and trades every couple of years that has about 3 or 4 of them, one for every one of houses across the country.
Land Cruiser buyers are VERY loyal. Toyota knows they don't sell too many of them, so I don't think they're in a big hurry to get the volumes up and start pushing them out the doors. It's just like Chevy with the Corvette. GM doesn't make all that much money on Vettes. That's why they were considering dropping the Vette a couple years ago. But, when you have an icon of a certain car line, the worst thing you can do is get rid of it.
Basically, the Land Cruiser is more of a status symbol than a value driven product. I wouldn't expect to see them change that for quite a while. And I have to disagree with some of you. If you've ever driven a Land Cruiser for an extended period of time, you'd somewhat see the value. I've driven every Toyota out there, including 2 of my own 4th gen 4Runners, and I don't think they come close to riding like a Land Cruiser. Just an opinion, though.
Grant
Land Cruiser buyers are VERY loyal. Toyota knows they don't sell too many of them, so I don't think they're in a big hurry to get the volumes up and start pushing them out the doors. It's just like Chevy with the Corvette. GM doesn't make all that much money on Vettes. That's why they were considering dropping the Vette a couple years ago. But, when you have an icon of a certain car line, the worst thing you can do is get rid of it.
Basically, the Land Cruiser is more of a status symbol than a value driven product. I wouldn't expect to see them change that for quite a while. And I have to disagree with some of you. If you've ever driven a Land Cruiser for an extended period of time, you'd somewhat see the value. I've driven every Toyota out there, including 2 of my own 4th gen 4Runners, and I don't think they come close to riding like a Land Cruiser. Just an opinion, though.
Grant