It was revealed last week that just 40 vehicles would make up New Zealand's initial allocation of Toyota Supras.
It's probably best to not get too caught up in that number, given that there will likely be more shipments of the much talked about two-door sports car in the months that follow. But, by the same token, it's also impressive to hear that half of that allocation has already been pre-sold.
This was a fact confirmed at last week's Toyota RAV4 launch by Neeraj Lala, Toyota New Zealand’s general manager of product and new vehicle sales. He also added that the first of the bunch are expected to land on our shores by mid-July.
As reported last week, pricing for the Supra is set to start at over $100,000. And, while not much can be gleaned from these early sales figures, they perhaps show that Kiwis are willing to accept the premium pricing.
It's worth noting that the first of BMW's new Z4 convertibles — the Supra's drop-top blood brother — have arrived in New Zealand. There is only one model in the range, the big-boy 250kW/500Nm M40i, and it's priced from $133,800 (almost $20k less than a Porsche Boxter S).
Six-figure pricing for a Toyota isn't without historical merit, of course. In the mid-'90s the World Rally Championship derived Toyota Celica GT4 was priced at almost $100,000 in New Zealand, while twin-turbo Supras sold here at a similar time were priced well over $100,000.
Curiously, it's last year's Ford Ranger Raptor case study that the new Supra reminds me of best.
When the blue oval revealed a retail price of $84,990 for the 2.0-litre biturbo diesel double-cab, the enthusiast reaction seemed to be one of disappointment — both over the price and over the lack of big output numbers from the 157kW, 500Nm unit.
And yet, before the the first 250-strong batch had landed in New Zealand, Ford had sold half of the allocation to pre-orders.
The Ranger Raptor ended up being one of our favourite vehicles of 2018. Time will tell whether the Supra will follow the same lines.