[vb-saan]

I don't find the IS too small when compared with the 3 or the A4, especially with the latest gen. But pricing the petrol-only Lexus in the diesel dominant luxury market will be a challenge - unless they intend to do what Skoda did with the Superb 1.8 TSI a few years back.

[eq24]

Lexus is more suited to India now than ever before. Look at the jump in Camry sales, I was recently at Grace Toyota to service my Fortuner and personally witnessed two Camry's being delivered and would you believe it both were HYBRID. Infact on speaking to the sales guys there they said that the demand for hybrid is very high 7/10 Camrys sold here were Hybrids.

If that is not enough of late I have been seeing a lot of new Camry's moving around and again among them a lot are the blue badged Hybrids. What I also understand from people who bought them (speaking to SA's and friends and colleagues) which now includes a lot of businessmen.

I spoke to one such businessman who owns three Germans the most expensive being the GL, says almost all his cars are driven by drivers so while he appreciates the drive it is not something which is a day to day thing. He said jokingly that the German cars like to go to their mike(referring to German cars as brides and mike being the brides home) very often whereas his Corolla(now replaced by Camry Hybrid) hardly goes and when she does go is usually back before the end of the day. The petrol angle is hardly troublesome for him, all he cares for is reliability and comfort both which the Toyota can give out in large supplies.

I feel thus that time is ripe for atleast the Lexus marque to start flirting with India, Acura and Infiniti will have it more difficult because almost unknown brands, but Lexus has some presence here. If they can price it right, then the deadly combo of Reliability, Comfort and Mileage(Hybrid) will make it a sure shot hit in among the large business man chauffeur driven buyers where the car can handle almost anyone or anything.

[stanjohn123]

Originally Posted by vb-san

I don't find the IS too small when compared with the 3 or the A4, especially with the latest gen. But pricing the petrol-only Lexus in the diesel dominant luxury market will be a challenge - unless they intend to do what Skoda did with the Superb 1.8 TSI a few years back.

Lexus does have a diesel engine in UK in the IS 220d , they could get that for us here.

What did Skoda do with the Superb 1.8 TSI ?

Originally Posted by eq24

Lexus is more suited to India now than ever before. Look at the jump in Camry sales, I was recently at Grace Toyota to service my Fortuner and personally witnessed two Camry's being delivered and would you believe it both were HYBRID. Infact on speaking to the sales guys there they said that the demand for hybrid is very high 7/10 Camrys sold here were Hybrids.

If that is not enough of late I have been seeing a lot of new Camry's moving around and again among them a lot are the blue badged Hybrids. What I also understand from people who bought them (speaking to SA's and friends and colleagues) which now includes a lot of businessmen.

I spoke to one such businessman who owns three Germans the most expensive being the GL, says almost all his cars are driven by drivers so while he appreciates the drive it is not something which is a day to day thing. He said jokingly that the German cars like to go to their mike(referring to German cars as brides and mike being the brides home) very often whereas his Corolla(now replaced by Camry Hybrid) hardly goes and when she does go is usually back before the end of the day. The petrol angle is hardly troublesome for him, all he cares for is reliability and comfort both which the Toyota can give out in large supplies.

I feel thus that time is ripe for atleast the Lexus marque to start flirting with India, Acura and Infiniti will have it more difficult because almost unknown brands, but Lexus has some presence here. If they can price it right, then the deadly combo of Reliability, Comfort and Mileage(Hybrid) will make it a sure shot hit in among the large business man chauffeur driven buyers where the car can handle almost anyone or anything.

Absolutely spot on. A lot of NRI's who are back in India are accustomed to the Lexus brand but have no true alternative for it.

Lexus is loosing it's foothold in it's once most dominant market which is the USA, I really thing it's a right time for them to move bases to India where they can surely flourish. They just might need to focus on producing a class leading diesel engine.

[vb-saan]

Originally Posted by stanjohn123

Lexus does have a diesel engine in UK in the IS 220d , they could get that for us here.

From what I know Lexus currently have only two engine options in the UK - the IS250 and IS300h, the latter being the hybrid option.

[stanjohn123]

Originally Posted by vb-san

From what I know Lexus currently have only two engine options in the UK - the IS250 and IS300h, the latter being the hybrid option.

They had the 220D 200D diesel engine variants in the last 2nd generation ( up to last year ). I think they don't sell that in the UK anymore with their 3rd Gen cars but I don't see any reason why they can't give us that option for India.

[Samurai]

Originally Posted by Hayek

I have never been in an IS - so am not sure how cramped it is. But the other issue is that they don't even have a hybrid IS.

Ahem, then you have to explain me how I managed to shoot this picture of hybrid IS last year.

http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/techni...ml#post3145539

It is available in UK.

[Hayek]

Originally Posted by Samurai

Ahem, then you have to explain me how I managed to shoot this picture of hybrid IS last year.



It is available in UK.

Mea culpa. Checked only the US site.

[PPS]

I wonder how many times is Toyota going to defer & revive their plans to launch the Lexus Brand in India!

http://auto.economictimes.indiatimes...-here/43734359

"The luxury car space is a prized segment ... We need to go for that," said Naomi Ishii, managing director of Toyota Kirloskar Motor, the local unit of the Japanese automaker. "We are under intensive planning to chart out the strategy for Lexus in India and are studying the taxation structure to offer a right preposition to Indian customers," Ishii said.

[srishiva]

With maintenance headaches the Germans offer, Lexus should be a sigh of relief for people who need to enjoy luxury with peace of mind. Maybe Lexus wants to plan better before they come here and hence taking more time.

[kadanaJ]

Well, I'll be happy if they come. Finally you can get luxury and reliability on one package!

It may not be as fun as a German, but I'd like knowing that my Lexus will last me many more years to come with a lot less headache.

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

Finally you can get luxury and reliability on one package!

We already have VOLVO for that, but looking at their sales I understand that brand value takes the maximum priority. Now many would say volvo is not fun to drive, to be frank most of these cars are rarely self driven.

[kadanaJ]

Is Volvo really considered very reliable, especially if compared to Lexus? I personally have a poor outlook on the reliability of any European car (be they German, Italian, French or British).

Although in terms of fun, I imagine even Volvo would be better than a Lexus.

[stanjohn123]

Originally Posted by giri1.8

We already have VOLVO for that, but looking at their sales I understand that brand value takes the maximum priority. Now many would say volvo is not fun to drive, to be frank most of these cars are rarely self driven.

I don't think Volvo can be as reliable as Lexus and Volvo's spare parts are generally much more expensive than Lexus's since the latter shares their parts with Toyota to keep prices down.

[carcrazy10]

It seems as if Toyota has once again revived it's plans to bring Lexus to the indian market. This would be the second of such instances this year after the recent news back in June 2014.

Opinions?! - Considering Lexus has a major advantage in terms of reliability, loyalty, and brand recognition, the only disadvantage to the late entrant is the lack of an oil burner in their global line up. Even-so, Given that their new model line up has no diesel engines at all, would the reducing gap between petrol and diesel be an advantage?!

After todays petrol price reduction, the gap remains at ~Rs. 7/ ltr.

http://economictimes.indiatimes.com/...w/43768692.cms

http://www.cartrade.com/car-bike-new...ia-125480.html

[giri1.8]

Originally Posted by kadanaJ

Is Volvo really considered very reliable, especially if compared to Lexus? I personally have a poor outlook on the reliability of any European car (be they German, Italian, French or British).

Although in terms of fun, I imagine even Volvo would be better than a Lexus.

Originally Posted by stanjohn123

I don't think Volvo can be as reliable as Lexus and Volvo's spare parts are generally much more expensive than Lexus's since the latter shares their parts with Toyota to keep prices down.

I don't have any personal experience with volvo, but I have never seen anyone complain about their reliability. This may not be relevant to modern cars, but 1966 Volvo P1800 holds the record for the maximum miles covered by a car and its owner(correct me if I am wrong), it has run three million miles as of 2013.