Cheapest to most expensive: In which country do you have to pay 4 times the normal price for a Lexus NX 300h?
Hey guys. Do you feel that we're paying more for our cars than people in other countries? Turns out the grass isn't greener on the other side. I embarked on a price comparison exercise for the Lexus NX 300h - a car that broke all the design rules for small SUVs - and did it just for fun.
The results are simply astonishing. You know, on some dim level I understood that import taxes, duties, protectionist policies play a big role in the final sticker price of a car when it hits the market, but honestly, I didn't think the price difference could be that huge between the cheapest and most expensive countries.
Also, to demonstrate how prices of the Lexus NX 300h varied across the globe, I compared between American, European, Asian and Australasian continents. Japan is included; being the home of Lexus, it puts things into perspective.
All prices have been converted from the domestic currency to a common denominator for ease of reference and conversion. I've used US$ as the basis for comparison.
The upshot of this price study across 10 countries possibly contains valuable insights if ever you're in the market for a Lexus NX 300h - it tells you where you should get one and where you shouldn't even think about it.
By sheer coincidence, these 10 countries also represent the 10 biggest Lexus markets in terms of sales. Naturally, it follows that where prices are more affordable, these markets rack up higher sales volume; and in territories where prices are sky high, compromised consumer purchasing power becomes more of an issue.
Without further ado, the prices of the Lexus NX 300h in 10 countries, ranked from the cheapest to the most expensive are:
Price analysis:
The cheapest country where you can get a Lexus NX 300h is Canada, at (the equivalent of) US$ 38,444.05. Perhaps where you don't want to be is in Singapore, where it'll cost you an astonishing US$ 171,923.38! In other words, if you live in Singapore, the price you pay for the Lexus NX 300h buys you four units of the same car in Canada.
How Singaporeans don't feel ripped off, I don't know...
There's a reason why cars cost so much in Singapore and it's not just because of high taxes. What takes the chunk of that final price tag is the cost of obtaining what they call a COE, Certificate of Entitlement, essentially a piece of paper that says you have the right to drive this vehicle in town for 10 years. Land is so scarce in Singapore; to manage the road congestion and traffic flow, the government implements various measures to discourage purchases of new cars and the COE is merely one of them. Quite effective because it can cost up to SG$ 100,000 (US$ 70,747)!
The other trend I noticed is that cars are cheaper in developed countries (with the exception of Singapore) and more costly in developing countries. Odd isn't it, because the average household income in developing countries is a lot less than in developed countries, yet they're paying more per month just to get a set of wheels to show off, sorry, get around. It's also rather apt that the price of the Lexus NX 300h in Japan is smack in the middle of the pack at No.5. Here, it's neither too expensive nor too cheap; but nicely affordable given the average household income.
And for us in Malaysia, we have to pay the equivalent of US$ 81,701.93 which is double that of American sticker prices. Yes it hurts!!
Are these prices fair? Does anyone know where our money is going to?
Cheers!
All Lexus
Hey guys. Do you feel that we're paying more for our cars than people in other countries? Turns out the grass isn't greener on the other side. I embarked on a price comparison exercise for the Lexus NX 300h - a car that broke all the design rules for small SUVs - and did it just for fun.
The results are simply astonishing. You know, on some dim level I understood that import taxes, duties, protectionist policies play a big role in the final sticker price of a car when it hits the market, but honestly, I didn't think the price difference could be that huge between the cheapest and most expensive countries.
First, the ground rules: To be consistent, I ensured that these cars were identically-specified. In some territories, Lexus' policy is dump-it-all-in: All the option boxes have been ticked and there's just one sticker price. In other countries, you start with a basic Lexus NX 300h and build it up from there. By ensuring similar options were specified in the latter case, a true-and-fair basis was established to start the comparison exercise.
Also, to demonstrate how prices of the Lexus NX 300h varied across the globe, I compared between American, European, Asian and Australasian continents. Japan is included; being the home of Lexus, it puts things into perspective.
All prices have been converted from the domestic currency to a common denominator for ease of reference and conversion. I've used US$ as the basis for comparison.
By sheer coincidence, these 10 countries also represent the 10 biggest Lexus markets in terms of sales. Naturally, it follows that where prices are more affordable, these markets rack up higher sales volume; and in territories where prices are sky high, compromised consumer purchasing power becomes more of an issue.
Without further ado, the prices of the Lexus NX 300h in 10 countries, ranked from the cheapest to the most expensive are:
The cheapest country where you can get a Lexus NX 300h is Canada, at (the equivalent of) US$ 38,444.05. Perhaps where you don't want to be is in Singapore, where it'll cost you an astonishing US$ 171,923.38! In other words, if you live in Singapore, the price you pay for the Lexus NX 300h buys you four units of the same car in Canada.
How Singaporeans don't feel ripped off, I don't know...
There's a reason why cars cost so much in Singapore and it's not just because of high taxes. What takes the chunk of that final price tag is the cost of obtaining what they call a COE, Certificate of Entitlement, essentially a piece of paper that says you have the right to drive this vehicle in town for 10 years. Land is so scarce in Singapore; to manage the road congestion and traffic flow, the government implements various measures to discourage purchases of new cars and the COE is merely one of them. Quite effective because it can cost up to SG$ 100,000 (US$ 70,747)!
The other trend I noticed is that cars are cheaper in developed countries (with the exception of Singapore) and more costly in developing countries. Odd isn't it, because the average household income in developing countries is a lot less than in developed countries, yet they're paying more per month just to get a set of wheels to show off, sorry, get around. It's also rather apt that the price of the Lexus NX 300h in Japan is smack in the middle of the pack at No.5. Here, it's neither too expensive nor too cheap; but nicely affordable given the average household income.
And for us in Malaysia, we have to pay the equivalent of US$ 81,701.93 which is double that of American sticker prices. Yes it hurts!!
Are these prices fair? Does anyone know where our money is going to?
Cheers!
All Lexus
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