Quote:
Originally Posted by scale auto style
hi guy's i will explain the philosophy of the japenese kit industry.
this is good for almost 99% of the japanese manufacturer ( tamiya, Aoshima, Fujimi ...)
when they market a kit they look theyre LOCAL market. usually it's asian market and they don't like a lot USA car. even old school or the newest one.
to enter in the japanese market GM bought Subaru otherwise they will never sell a car in this market.
so imagine trying selling a model kit of an american car... same thing.
the other thing the modelers ask me ( as a hobbyshop owner ) is why Fujimi, Aoshima and tamiya don't do more kit with engine.. WE love to detail engine... the answer is: like you said YOU love engine but the asian... NO ( i explain )
i go to an asain car show some years ago and i felt on my knees when i enter... figure what... no hood was open or just a few one. here in canada and usa 99.9% of hood are open. Everybody was inside the car or turning around... like they don't want to see the engine they want to see the look of the car.
this philosophy is also reflected in our hobby... why spending a lot of $$ into a engine tooling when our taget market doesn't want it.
compare the tamiya RX-7 you will see.
kit 24110 Rx-7 efni.. ( no detail engine ) retail 1500 Yen
kit 24116 RX-7 R1 same kit as 24110 but with ENGINE retail 2200 yen
it's 32% more than the otherone.. so they have to think about that before they put an engine.
Of course the american market is not the same thing. i can guess... Tamiya got the lead of the race for the american market. they offer a wider range of kit with engine but unfortunotly they stop producing new kit.
right now they are in the RE-issue process.
new kit involve new tooling, new investment and paying license to the real manufacture of the cars.. so with the econy we have at this moment i think it's not a good idea to put a lot of $$ in this.
but they don't have the license problem with the military market .. this is why they concentrate theyre effort in this branch.
hope this help someone
yours
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So youre saying that the asian market is more profitable than the U.S. and the west combined. How about our european brothers dont they like engines too?When I look on the internet at model shows around the world the winners are usually the detailed ones with hood, doors,decklid,engine wired.etc. Look at all the tamiya con winners. Most with super detailed engines and not the scratch built ones either!!
I understand the market stuff but even so theyre coming out with one or two of the asian cars a year.
Another question for you guys? If they re-issue a kit do they have to pay the license fees again? In other words if they got a deal with porsche and all the sponsors,etc. to make the 956 back in lets say 1987...then re-issue it today are they paying them twice or is it a one-time few. Also if they can do a porsche then. Then cant they do one now?
Is it really just a question of dollars and cents?
Im with R.M. I would love to see a citroen wrc car!!
