Lexus to hit Indian roads

[vasudeva]

Although Lexus is now the largest selling luxury car in the US, it has had not the expected success in Japan, where it was launched in mid-2005. See this:

Lexus: Too Japanese for the Japanese

[lancer_rit]

Originally Posted by vasudeva

Although Lexus is now the largest selling luxury car in the US, it has had not the expected success in Japan, where it was launched in mid-2005. See this:

Lexus: Too Japanese for the Japanese

Once I read somewhere, the Japanese prefer European luxury cars when it comes to the high end ... Looks like it still holds true ?

[Bimster]

Originally Posted by GTO

They say that the LS is far more refined / comfortable than the S / 7 / A8. Why? Simply because it has no sporty pretentions, thus does not need to focus on handling prowess. Comfort is of paramount importance.

Agree -as is most of the lexus models except IS-remotely sporty but solidly built,much more reliable than the Germans and very comfortable to ride in.Indians who buy these cars hardly drive it (chauffeur) and may prefer the comfortable ride and hasslefree maintenence over sportier handling BMWs,Audis or even Mercs which I think many Indians see as better status symbol than the other cars mentioned.

[DocG]

Hmmm even if Lexus LS models are priced in S class territory, there shouldn't be a problem. They WILL sell!! Reason being our population is almost always chauffer driven, Hence people don't car about the engine, displacement, horsepower figures etc...They care about back seat comfort, brand image, percieved value...

Percieved Value/Brand image - Lexus ranks just as high as BMW, Mercedes (Audi is surprisingly not as highly valued based on my experience)
Back seat comfort - Ranks really high!
NVH - Haha, the best!

I would like to quote some reasons as to why people whom I know have bought the cars which they use:
1) Why buy an S500 over an S350? [58 year old man] - The price was right
2) Why did you get a Range Rover Sport over the regular Range Rover? [Same 58 year old man] - My son has a white one, so I got one in black.
3) Why get the 760 IL over any of the other models? [35 year old man] - Why wouldn't I want a V12?!?
4) Why did you buy an S class(350)? [44 year old woman] - Felt safe

The person in 2 didn't even know the difference between the regular RR and the RR sport...he didn't know what engine it had, he didn't know it was smaller [I understand his 26 year old son getting the sport, but expected him to get a luxo (larger) regular RR]. In fact, he ordered his over the phone

So my point is people shopping in that price range are unaffected by technical specifications...they look at their cars in a different way...

[RPMPKDMFF]

Originally Posted by DocG

So my point is people shopping in that price range are unaffected by technical specifications...they look at their cars in a different way...

Hey Doc, that final statement does hold infinite truth in it. The people who can afford such cars seldom think about driving pleasure or horsepower, for the simple fact that they will most definitely be driven around. There are a few who would peruse through the specifications deeply.

IMO, Most (not saying all) of the high end luxury car owners generally buy it cause they can afford it and the vehicle becomes a sort of 'status symbol'... our dear friend has one, so we need to get one better... that is what most of them think of, rather than the specs. Same thing with high-end sports cars.

[vasudeva]

In the US market, apparently Lexus scores over MB and BMW not because of handling but because of other factors such as reliability. I am sure service levels of all luxury brands will be comparable.

However, establishing a luxury brand in India will take time. Even though Lexus has an awareness amongst buyers, MB still is top of mind. It will be difficult for Lexus to dislodge MB from that position and it could take some years and some cars on the road. Positive for Lexus is its established brand identity (unlike Genesis which is `new').

[GTO]

1) Why buy an S500 over an S350? [58 year old man] - The price was right

Not only price, but also the waiting period. A good number of S500 buyers paid premium $$$ to import it, only because the wait period for the 350 ran into months!

AFAIK, only two cars have a waiting period today. The Swift diesel and the Mercedes S350. Talk about extremes, eh?

[DocG]

Originally Posted by GTO

Not only price, but also the waiting period. A good number of S500 buyers paid premium $$$ to import it, only because the wait period for the 350 ran into months!

AFAIK, only two cars have a waiting period today. The Swift diesel and the Mercedes S350. Talk about extremes, eh?

hey but GTO, the person I'm refering to, well let me put it this way, I highly doubt there would have been a waiting period for him...

However the point was that he was shopping for a car worth well over a crore, and not less, the S500 with all the options he selected hit the mark he wanted...simply put the S350 was too cheap.
His son told me that he suggested his dad get an S600 gaurd, but that didn't work out...

Besides there are loads of people like this who like buying cars at a certain price point, it's the show off factor....mine's bigger than yours

Oh and he used the S500 for 3 or 4 months, now it's the RR, he'll change his car again in a few months...

[fx45]

in my view, they should launch the IS, GS sedans and the LX suv first and then later on launch the LS sedan..

[abdul 65 amg]

Lexus can take one part of the market in India.But it needs a real exclusive network and a service in the same league than Mercedes-Benz.Line up is very complete.The IS 220d seems to be a beater against the C220 CDI.

[bharath1]

in my opinion, lexus should bring their IS and RX down here. These will be more practical here than other models that they have.

Basically one thing I dont like with lexus/Nissan is that there is too much of a similarity between the toyota/nissan brand models and lexus/infiniti. The price tag differs only because of the luxury appointments and brand name.

Atleast for the company it is reaping enough benefits in terms of cost efficiency in manufacturing parts. but for customers!!....as far as they are happy everybody is happy....

Service backup - very crucial and essential for a vehicle with premium price tag.
Although i dont mean that it is not essential for other cars.

Whether these opinions account or not, but lexus, infiniti and acura are a welcome sign on any given day in indian car market......

[sriramv.iyer]

Originally Posted by bharath1

Basically one thing I dont like with lexus/Nissan is that there is too much of a similarity between the toyota/nissan brand models and lexus/infiniti. The price tag differs only because of the luxury appointments and brand name.

You are actually correct. When I was in Japan, I saw that Infiniti G35 was sold as a Nissan. And in one of the earlier posts, GTO was mentioning that the european version of the Accord was sold as Acura in the US.

What I have seen is that the designs from prev generation of Lexus / Acura are passed on to the next generations of Camry / Civic / Accord. I have seen too many familiar faces this way.

Inorder not to go OT, I support that Lexus comes to India (not that anyone would care for my comments ) and they get the IS-F!

[Bimster]

^
Not quite true anymore.ES is the only Lexus car(all their SUVs are derivatives) that has anything to do with any Toyotas.Its true that Euro accord is sold here as an Acura and many Infinitis like G35 are sold in Japan as higher end Nissans (skyline incase of G35)but there is no Infiniti brand in Japan and no Acura outside the US.I dont think any new Camry/Civic/Accords are designs from previous gen Acura or Lexus.By the way Lexus cusomer service is topclass and made me jelous everytime I had visited them.