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Today’s young people are familiar with sports cars because of their parents’ influence as part of the ‘supercar’ generation. Sports cars are likely to remain popular because many people feel older models have ‘nostalgic’ value, and they often post their impressions on social media.

11 Comments

Carsensor Editor-in-Chief Yasuhiro Nishimura. Sales of sports cars are gradually accelerating, and the boom is being fueled by the younger generation.

© Yomiuri Shimbun

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yes these kind of cars are good for old couples with adult kods living separately,good for young childless couples.so yes there will be always market for these cars especially when there are more childless couples than before...

2 ( +2 / -0 )

As much as I like sports cars, I'm sad to say that they're way too expensive. All cars for that matter are too expensive these days and it's not just the part about buying them. You've got to work in the fuel costs, maintenance costs and the insurance costs too.

Also, most of the cars that are fun to drive are well over 3 million yen (don't even think about an import if you're working on a budget). You've got to have a lot of disposable income to be driving a new sports car. Even a used one for that matter.

One exception to the above would be the Suzuki Swift Sports which @JeffLee mentioned here. I'm not sure about where the Toyota Yaris fits in. Even the lowest trim RS with a sticker price of 2.65 million yen is going to set you back by over 3 million yen depending upon how you option it out. The higher trims are much more expensive.

According to Carsensor Editor-in-Chief Yasuhiro Nishimura, "the sports car boom is gradually accelerating and the boom is being fueled by the younger generation".

I'd like to ask him where the younger generation is getting the money to buy these things.

LOL

2 ( +2 / -0 )

It's critical that more accessible sports cars like the aforementioned Suzuki Swift (or Alto Works) and even the Toyobaru 86/BRZ twins remain reasonably priced. Otherwise, the market for sports cars will be only mid- to higher- end cars which will naturally limit the market and keep future enthusiasts away from this kind of car. I'm not even talking about Italian or British supercars; even something like the Civic Type R is already getting out of reach for a lot of people these days. The less exclusive sports cars are, the better.

2 ( +2 / -0 )

But do they have the money to afford them? Nah.... inflation here and there but no change in salary cap? No job security?

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I think the "hot hatch" trend has a lot do with it. Take a normally boring subcompact hatchback, like a Suzuki Swift or a Toyota Yaris, give it a sport trim with fancy paint, alloy wheels, a few interior flourishes and maybe upgrade to a 1.5 liter engine, and bang -- you've a very sporty vehicle indeed. A sports car costing around 2 million yen that can also carry 5 people and the groceries and sips tiny amounts of gasoline. What's not to like, apart from the front-wheel drive?

1 ( +1 / -0 )

Are older Japanese people "the supercar generation"? They will have lived through the golden age of JDM, basically the Bubble period when we had the Supra, the RX7, and the all the others, really really good affordable sports cars for enthusiasts of limited means. Out of them, only Honda's NSX approached actual "super car" (the best Ferrari, the best Porsche etc.) level.

Sales of sports cars may be up now, but it is after falling for thirty years, so sales volume will be low.

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yes these kind of cars are good for old couples with adult kods living separately,good for young childless couples.so yes there will be always market for these cars especially when there are more childless couples than before...

exactly. this is not the US or other countries where there is plenty of space and everyone in the house has its car, most people in big metropolitan areas can only afford to have 1 car (no space if you own a house and absurd parking fees if you live in a condo) so yes, young people owning sports/tuners/2 seater cars mean they have 0 interest in having a family in the near future, once again japanese veneration for materials trumps human emotions and the aspiration of having a family, easier to polish your car than change diapers

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IMO the GTR, Lexus LFA the Evo X were easily up with the world class.

It was the GTR that allowed ordinary folks to purchase a power-house without taking a 2nd mortgage or robbing a bank.

Competitive output / price balance with the euro-fancies.

0 ( +0 / -0 )

Utter nonsense,the only reason young people are familiar with these lines of cars is because of games like GTA.

0 ( +1 / -1 )

Some of you may remember the MG RV8. Made in the UK in the 90s it was based on the MGB but with some improvements including a 3.9 litre V8 engine. Typical classic British sports car. They showed it at the Tokyo Motor Show and subsequently, of the 2000 made, 1500 or so were sold in Japan.

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