One of the company Executives admitted to this and it's the reason why Toyota cars were basically removed in recent racing titles.
https://kotaku.com/5387350/toyota-exec-realistic-video-games-make-cars-unnecessary
Mind you this was back in
2009, so I don't think there is any correlation but the fact that most Toyota and Lexus production models are completely absent in Forza and other racing titles is odd.
This is Gran Turismo 6's (released in december
2013) list of Toyota cars:
- S Toyota 2000GT '67
- P Toyota 2010 Brian Vickers #83 Red Bull TOYOTA CAMRY '10
- P Toyota 2010 Denny Hamlin #11 FedEx TOYOTA CAMRY '10
- P Toyota 2010 Joey Logano #20 The Home Depot TOYOTA CAMRY '10
- P Toyota 2010 Kyle Busch #18 M&M'S® TOYOTA CAMRY '10
- S Toyota ALTEZZA AS200 '98
- S Toyota ALTEZZA Gita AS300 '01
- S Toyota ALTEZZA RS200 '98
- S Toyota ALTEZZA Touring Car
- S Toyota ARISTO 3.0V '91
- S Toyota ARISTO V300 '00
- S Toyota ARISTO V300 Vertex Edition '00
- S Toyota au CERUMO Supra (JGTC) '01
- S Toyota bB 1.5Z X Version '00
- S Toyota CALDINA GT-FOUR '02
- S Toyota CARINA ED 2.0 X 4WS '89
- P Toyota Castrol TOM'S SUPRA (JGTC) '97
- S Toyota Castrol TOM'S SUPRA (JGTC) '00
- S Toyota Castrol TOM'S SUPRA (JGTC) '01
- S Toyota CELICA 1600GT (TA22) '70
- S Toyota CELICA 2000GT-FOUR (ST165) '86
- S Toyota CELICA 2000GT-R (ST162) '86
- S Toyota CELICA GT-FOUR (ST205) '98
- S Toyota CELICA GT-FOUR Rally Car (ST185) '95
- P/S Toyota CELICA GT-FOUR Rally Car (ST205) '95
- S Toyota CELICA GT-FOUR RC (ST185) '91
- S Toyota CELICA GT-R (ST183, 4WS) '91
- S Toyota CELICA SS-II (ST202) '97
- S Toyota CELICA SS-II (ZZT231) '99
- S Toyota CELICA XX 2800GT '81
- S Toyota COROLLA LEVIN BZ-R '98
- S Toyota COROLLA LEVIN GT-APEX (AE86) '83
- S Toyota COROLLA Rally Car '98
- S Toyota COROLLA RUNX Z AEROTOURER '02
- S Toyota DENSO SARD SUPRA GT (JGTC) '00
- P Toyota FT-86 Concept '09
- P Toyota FT-86 G SPORTS Concept '10
- S Toyota GT-ONE Race Car (TS020) '99
- S Toyota ist 1.5S '02
- S Toyota MINOLTA Toyota 88C-V Race Car '89
- S Toyota MR2 1600 G '86
- S Toyota MR2 1600 G-Limited Super Charger '86
- S Toyota MR2 G-Limited '97
- S Toyota MR2 GT-S '97
- S Toyota MR2 Spyder '99
- S Toyota MR2 Spyder (6MT) '02
- S Toyota MR-S S Edition '99
- S Toyota MR-S V Edition (6MT) '02
- P Toyota PRIUS G '09
- S Toyota PRIUS G (J) '02
- S Toyota PRIUS G Touring Selection (J) '03
- S Toyota RSC '01
- S Toyota RSC Rally Raid Car
- S Toyota SERA '92
- S Toyota SOARER 2.5GT-T '97
- S Toyota SOARER 430SCV '01
- S Toyota SPORTS 800 '65
- S Toyota SPRINTER TRUENO BZ-R '98
- S Toyota SPRINTER TRUENO GT-APEX (AE86 Shuichi Shigeno Version) '00
- S Toyota SPRINTER TRUENO GT-APEX (AE86) '83
- S Toyota STARLET Glanza V '97
- S Toyota SUPERAUTOBACS APEX MR-S (JGTC) '00
- P/S Toyota SUPRA 2.5GT Twin Turbo R '90
- S Toyota SUPRA 3.0GT Turbo A '88
- S Toyota SUPRA RZ '97
- S Toyota SUPRA SZ-R '97
- S Toyota Tacoma X-Runner '04
- S Toyota Toyota 7 Race Car '70
- S Toyota VITZ F '99
- P Toyota VITZ RS 1.5 '00
- S Toyota VITZ RS 1.5 '07
- S Toyota VITZ RS Turbo '02
- S Toyota VITZ U Euro Sport Edition '00
- S Toyota VOLTZ S '02
- S Toyota WEDSSPORT CELICA (JGTC) '03
- S Toyota WiLL VS '01
- S Toyota WOODONE TOM'S SUPRA (JGTC) '03
- S Toyota Yaris F (J) '99
- S Toyota Yaris RS 1.5 (J) '00
- S Toyota Yaris RS Turbo (J) '02
- S Toyota Yaris U Euro Sport Edition (J) '00
- P Toyota YellowHat YMS Supra (SUPER GT) '05
That executive had no idea what he was talking about.
Some manufacturers still had hooks with their licensing like "you can put dents in our cars, but you're not allowed to roll one of our cars over" and then that doesn't work for most franchises. But I think even those are all gone now.
What's more likely is that Turn 10 has decided to throw out one manufacturer each year if they want too much money for the licensing or if working with them is too complicated. I remember hearing something about Bentley where they wanted absolute perfection in every tiniest detail, even more so than Ferrari. Then there are some license holders who just charge exorbitant sums compared to the average, like Suzuka for the circuit. I also heard a "rumor" that Italian manufacturers are cheaper for Kunos (Assetto Corsa), while Britishmanufacturers are cheaper for SMS (Project CARS).
Edit:
Whilst it may seem stupid on the face of it, there could be some basis of someone trying a car in a game and being put of purchasing said car because the virtual version didn't live up to their expectations I guess.
I remember Jeff Gerstmann saying that he tried his Lexus in Forza and that helped him make the decision to buy the car. My guess would be that most people look at the color and rim options and how nice the cockpit is (maybe the sound, though that wouldn't be very wise with most games today, Forza reuses engine noises a lot for different cars that have almost the same engine, but actually sound pretty different IRL)