JDM & the Economy
Joined: Mar 2005
Posts: 5,662
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Originally Posted by GT Motoring,Jan 5 2011, 07:50 AM
Well being an enthusiest and tuner / shop in this market i see alot of angles on this in my head. There are a few reasons ive seen a decline in the JDM market and its sales trends in the past 2 years.
1. Exchange rate - In the pase 2-3 years, the Yen has gone from 115:1 to 80:1 range. thats a HUGE percentage change. That means that all the parts retail cost are generally being raised that same 25-35% on average. This makes some of the expensive parts like ASM or Amuse, now cost that much more.
2. S2000 discontinued this past year - The car is no longer a current model, so its less attractive for tuning companies to develop new parts
3. S2000 owner demographic - When the car was newer and was 22-32k range for most used and new cars, owners typically had higher incomes and more disposable income for pricey mods. Today, S2000s can be had for under 10k regularly. This younger, and typically less cash rich demographic is less likely to spend as much on mods. Ive seen it first hand of course as a business. many more customers just look for whats cheapest, not what best, or best performance value
Even new part development for domestic companies like us at Challenge / GT Motoring. We are pretty selective on what we choose to pursue, as there are MANY choices out there for customers after 10 years of the cars development and replica parts. Its difficult to hit that sweet spot where you have a great quality part that enough people can afford. Youre often put on the same list as a knock off part that may be junk, but its half the price. JDM and US companies both have this same battle.
1. Exchange rate - In the pase 2-3 years, the Yen has gone from 115:1 to 80:1 range. thats a HUGE percentage change. That means that all the parts retail cost are generally being raised that same 25-35% on average. This makes some of the expensive parts like ASM or Amuse, now cost that much more.
2. S2000 discontinued this past year - The car is no longer a current model, so its less attractive for tuning companies to develop new parts
3. S2000 owner demographic - When the car was newer and was 22-32k range for most used and new cars, owners typically had higher incomes and more disposable income for pricey mods. Today, S2000s can be had for under 10k regularly. This younger, and typically less cash rich demographic is less likely to spend as much on mods. Ive seen it first hand of course as a business. many more customers just look for whats cheapest, not what best, or best performance value
Even new part development for domestic companies like us at Challenge / GT Motoring. We are pretty selective on what we choose to pursue, as there are MANY choices out there for customers after 10 years of the cars development and replica parts. Its difficult to hit that sweet spot where you have a great quality part that enough people can afford. Youre often put on the same list as a knock off part that may be junk, but its half the price. JDM and US companies both have this same battle.
So that brings up another topic...what happened to Bulletproof? Never hear from them anymore, they are not a sponsor anymore, and they have not updated their website.
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