Because of the automaker’s ongoing struggles with the global chip shortage, used car prices for many Toyota models are skyrocketing in Japan.
According to used pricing data, the 2022 Toyota Land Cruiser ZX had a median price of 17.05 million yen ($129,000) in late July.
According to Nikkei Asia, this is more than double the suggested retail price of a brand new Land Cruiser in Japan.
Yasuyuki Matsui, director of the used car dealership group Goodspeed:
“There have been instances of localized spikes in prices for rare and popular cars, but I’ve never seen it happen for this many model.”
Toyota’s order books in Japan have skyrocketed. According to reports, the carmaker has approximately 1 million orders to fill in Japan alone, accounting for one-third of its annual domestic output.
This has resulted in wait times of up to four years for the Land Cruiser and up to a year for a number of other SUV models.
Toyota has so many reservations that it has temporarily halted Japanese orders for the Land Cruiser, Alphard, and Harrier models.
Rising prices are being driven by factors other than domestic demand. A number of Japan-only models, such as the Harrier, are gaining popularity in international markets, contributing to higher prices. Furthermore, used car dealers frequently auction off vehicles to other dealers. “Buyers exporting to wealthy customers in emerging economies pay high prices,” one seller explains.
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