Prices for many Toyota models in the Japanese used car market are skyrocketing due to the automaker’s ongoing struggle with a global shortage of chips.
According to current data, the average price of the Toyota Land Cruiser ZX 2022 at the end of July reached 17.05 million yen ($129,000). This is more than double the recommended retail price of the new Land Cruiser in Japan, according to Nikkei Asia.
The average price of a used Toyota Alphard Executive Lounge S minivan on the secondary jumped to 8.25 million yen, which exceeds the price of a new car at 7.75 million yen. The prices for some used Corolla Cross and Harrier models also exceeded the recommended retail prices.
“There have been cases of local price spikes for rare and popular cars, but I’ve never seen this happen for so many models,” Yasuyuki Matsui, director of the Goodspeed used car sales group, told Nikkei Asia.
Toyota has about 1 million orders in Japan alone, accounting for a third of its annual domestic production. This led to the fact that the waiting time for the Land Cruiser was more than four years, and for a number of other SUV models – more than a year. Toyota has so many orders that it recently suspended Japanese orders for Land Cruiser, Alphard, and Harrier models.
“It was not only domestic demand that caused prices to rise. A number of models designed only for Japan, such as the Harrier, are gaining popularity in foreign markets, and foreign buyers have contributed to the price increase. In addition, used car sellers often sell cars to other dealers.”
Source: carscoops.com