How utterly, breathtakingly arrogant of Toyota. You would think they would just be grateful that an enthusiast would be willing to spend such a colossal sum of money on one of their cars without trying to control what the customer does with it afterwards. If someone wants to spend £343,000 on a car and then keep it bubble-wrapped in their garage then that's their decision - not Toyota's.
"The move has also been designed to fend off speculators buying the car and then selling it on almost immediately for a large profit." How big a profit can you make on a £343,000 Toyota when 500 of them is going to be made - a profit might be on the go if they were only building 50 or 100 perhaps - but 500???
“If it is not controlled and hits the speculation market, all bets are off. We want people out driving the car and not parking it in a museum or selling it at an inflated price.” Isn't it down to what the customer wants to do with their new car rather than the manufacturer?
Of course the list price will be over half a million dollars in the US, so if someone is foolish enough to part with that amount of money for a Toyota then they probably deserve what's coming to them. But I'm most surprised by Toyota's attitude on this - I never had them down as being so bloody-minded arrogant. I genuinely hope the car is a flop - no more than Toyota deserves given their attitude.
