Tycoon

Born on shaky ground in the U.S. in 1989, Toyota’s Lexus marque has since grown to become the nation’s best-selling luxury brand. Now Toyota is hoping similar success can be found around the world.

Russia and China are welcoming the brand with open arms. Japan, Toyota’s home market, has been slower to accept Lexus as a legitimate luxury maker, however, with the company failing to meet 2005 and 2006 sales targets. It is hoped the newly redesigned LS sedan will help to turn things around, and the early numbers look good, Detroit News tells us.

The real challenge will be taking on the continent that invented and continues to dominate the world market for the luxury car: Europe. Lexus’ 2006 sales in Europe were just over 10% of its sales of 322,000 cars in the U.S. Hoping to entice more European drivers to make the switch, Toyota is focusing on refined performance and styling. However, as they European-ize their lineup, they are being careful not to scare off their American base.

But the product is not the only thing that needs refinement if Lexus is to succeed in Europe. While Russians and Chinese appreciate the same sort of service and sales Americans do, Europeans prefer a more hands-off, low-pressure approach. Cars are seen as luxury items where public transport is so inexpensive and efficient, and buyers seek out cars they like, not cars that are pushed on them.

Lexus is hoping to gain an edge in Europe with its already expansive hybrid technology, a front on which the European luxury makers have been lagging. With 80% of Lexus RX customers in Western Europe opting for the hybrid power train, the auto maker is poised to strike while the hybrid-market iron is hot.


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Bruce

I'm sure there a lot of people who will chuckle at the title of this thread, but truthfully, I don't think they should.

EnI

Global domination by Lexus.

I'm not so sure about that. Yes, Lexus is in the rise, but the The 3 Germans are not standing still. They are already reacting to Lexus, and will even more in the future. Audi will be very stron with healthy Porsche & Volkswagen guarding its back, and I'm sure BMW & MB will create a Holding sometimes in the future.

But Lexus is very serious lately ... Toyota has a lot of power at the moment.

But ... Every empire dies once ... Even Toyota's great success won't last forever. Perhaps it expires even before Lexus will be even able to dominate globally.

But for global domination Chinese & Indian markets are crucial. So, surprises are possible. Yet the most possible scenario in a distant future: some Chinese company being #1 luxury carmaker in the world.

Merc1

My first reaction is to "chuckle" but Lexus should be taken seriously, well for the most part. They aren't going to dominate in sales ever because they don't have a decent diesel outside of the IS model. Nor do they have the lineup that the Germans have. The bonus for them is that they can enter new markets and do it right from the start, without the historical baggage that MB/BMW/Audi carry in the mind of some buyers.

M

monster

I hope their global domination plan include some serious motor sport involvement, without that nobody will notice them. The brand is still young, they need to build on their rather dull history so people have something to remember them in the future.

MikeJ

I've always known they're evil.