[drmohitg]

I feel the Lexus surely enjoys certain level of respect and admiration even while competing with the big 3. This is an extremely good move. People who want exclusivity and luxury and at the same don't want to let go of the reliability factor will certainly be happy to put there money on the Lexus.

So how much will be the cheapest Lexus going to cost in India given that they will be CBU?

[DicKy]

Yahoo...... Now a worthy alternative to the Germans, also since Infiniti too coming.
But except for the Lexus IS which has a diesel heart most of the other models are handicapped by a lack of a diesel engine.

[swiftnfurious]

Originally Posted by DicKy

But except for the Lexus IS which has a diesel heart most of the other models are handicapped by a lack of a diesel engine.

Hormazd also tweets as below.

Lexus to focus on hybrids for Indian market to counter luxury diesel Germans. Lexus range for India to be priced aggressively says Toyota

So which are the best hybrids in Lexus range?

[Y@SH]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Hormazd also tweets as below.


So which are the best hybrids in Lexus range?

Have a look here Lexus Hybrids: More luxury hybrid cars and SUVs than any other manufacturer
Looking at pricing the RX hybrid is around $5k more expensive than the normal RX. Does the Indian govt have special laws for import of Hybrids? Lesser import duties etc?

[DicKy]

Originally Posted by swiftnfurious

Hormazd also tweets as below.


So which are the best hybrids in Lexus range?

Maybe the LS and RX, though the GS also has a hybrid.
The GX and LX already has their Toyota counterparts(Prado and LC) on sale here,that too at heavy premium,so dunno about those.

[S350L-E240]

While the news is nice, it still will perhaps leave a lot of people disappointed because if they intend do bring it in as CBU's, the cost itself goes high, and some states including mine have double RTO in case of imports a cost which I would be willing to bear for something exclusive, while Lexus is a nice car it doesn't strike a cord if its going to be priced above the Germans, yes reliability maybe better but that's only subjective and in the recent years the Germans have also upped the game by a margin in terms of reliability,

Also hybrids on paper and in theory may sound exciting, but in the real world the Diesels can still outpower the Hybrids in fuel economy, I'm talking about segment to segment comparison and not compare a Prius to a Mercedes GL,

Another thing like others have mentioned they already sell the Land Cruiser and Prado at super high cost, infact the cost itself is the reason why one hardly sees an amazing vehicle like the Land Cruiser sell in good numbers on our roads, keeping that in mind will Lexus really be aggressive? I mean Autocar India can claim a lot but not like they have a reliable track record when it comes to pricing or assuming the price?

Lastly, the Germans and to an extent the JLR brands are all now well established, and considering how expensive real estate is getting and a wonderful thread on this forum itself about how expensive dealership setup is, will they find the correct dealers? I guess this would not be a problem if they rope in existing Toyota dealers, but are they all good enough across the country to handle Lexus?

Exciting times ahead can only be had if Lexus does what BMW India did 4 years ago, they did not just heat the competetion but they expanded the whole market in general,

Let's wait and watch!

Regards,

[SDP]

Originally Posted by S350L-E240

While the news is nice, it still will perhaps leave a lot of people disappointed because if they intend do bring it in as CBU's, the cost itself goes high, and some states including mine have double RTO in case of imports a cost which I would be willing to bear for something exclusive, while Lexus is a nice car it doesn't strike a cord if its going to be priced above the Germans, yes reliability maybe better but that's only subjective and in the recent years the Germans have also upped the game by a margin in terms of reliability,

Fantastic point of view. If CBU is the way they want to come to India, why did Toyota wait for a decade?

Originally Posted by S350L-E240

Also hybrids on paper and in theory may sound exciting, but in the real world the Diesels can still outpower the Hybrids in fuel economy, I'm talking about segment to segment comparison and not compare a Prius to a Mercedes GL,

I don't believe India is ready for Hybrids yet and getting a Hybrid offering in the "Lexus price range" is not going to change that situation. What we need are hybrids that people can afford.

Finally, I am happy that Lexus is coming to India. I have always liked that brand. Especially love their "Pursue the moment" ads. Here's one "Pursue the moment" ad.
And one more

[avishar]

Lexus should have been here atleast 5-10 years back.I would say Lexus would have had higher brand recall than Audi at the start of the last decade.

Right now it would be tough to break the dominance of the German Trio.There is no doubt that the Indian luxury still has enough room for everyone to grow for next two decades,however it would require a concerted effort from the Japs to make a dent.Which wont happen if they want to bring only CBUs.

The future is in Asia,particularly Asia-Pac,the Germans have realized that,and must say a manufacturer like BMW is as aggressive as Maruti when it comes to launching and flooding every car segment/niche possible.Lexus i dont think is going to be that aggressive .

The Japs are always to cautious and hesitant in their approach to India,either that or they think India is still to unimportant a market.Lexus has its own USP no doubt of giving cutting edge technology and reliability in the same package,but this is no longer the early 2000s where quality and brands was in short supply.Plus i wonder if the snob value of a Lexus has diminished in India over the years(from the times when anyone who wanted to say he/she has arrived had a Lexus badged Landy!)

Also lack of diesel is definitely going to hurt.Lexus's are not sold in Europe?Is it just America focused?

[SunilM]

Yukitoshi Funo, Executive Vice-President, Toyota Motor Corporation said that the decision to launch Lexus in India had been taken and that the company was now moving to work out details on launch date, relevant models, operations and a dedicated sales network with its Indian affiliate Toyota Kirloskar Motor Ltd., to meet an early 2013 date to launch this iconic brand.

While informing us about Lexus’s decision to enter the Indian luxury car market, Funo said that his company might have erred on the side of conservatism by not forecasting the sort of volumes the premium segment in India has been recording over the past four to five years.

While Toyota will add capacity to its existing plants in India to around 210,000 units per year by 2012, the pace of adding more capacity will be an annual affair. By 2013 output at its two units at Bidadi near Bangalore will be enhanced to 310,000 units. The bulk of this volume will be met by the Etios - Liva twins as well as by the ever green Corolla, but apart from these models, the best selling Innova will get a fresh make-over in early 2012 while the Fortuner SUV will get an automatic transmission. If that's not all, the Camry, which is presently sold under the CBU route will now be assembled in India using the CKD approach.

Source:: Toyota to unleash Lexus in India in 2013


I like all four updates from Toyota - Lexus will be a welcome addition to the luxury segment - with its bulletproof reliability, it is no longer a choice between luxury/performance/reliability. I like the Camry CKD news, expect a decent price correction on the Camry. Current prices are insane. Innova and Fortuner upgrades are welcome move as well.

[sarthakgupta]

Lexus not coming to India, for the time being:

Mr. Sandeep Singh, deputy managing director for marketing at TKM told Financial Chronicle that, “We were keen to launch Lexus brand and also made an announcement. But we have now put the decision on hold in view of higher duty and rupee volatility. Because, like other manufacturers, we cannot assemble Lexus cars here, as the quality standards are very stringent. I don’t see Lexus brand getting launched here at least in the next two years”

See GTO sir's excellent analysis about the challanges that Lexus would have faced in India: http://www.team-bhp.com/forum/indian...challenge.html

Source: http://indianautosblog.com/2012/12/l...ndia-now-57210

[i<3turbo]

Originally Posted by amit

Typical Toyota. If Fortuner and the Toyota small car is any indication, we shouldn't expect Lexus here before 2012. And looking at Camry prices, what will be the pricing of Lexus?

Right now pricewise,

Camry = Mercedes C, BMW 3, Accord V6.

So that means,

IS = Mercedes E and BMW 5

GS = Mercedes S and BMW 7

LS = Maybach and Rolls Royce

They may start production of Camry here but that would result in Camry resale prices crashing and Toyota wouldn't want to do that and irritate premium customers so I guess the locally manufactured Camry will always be at a premium over the Accord and the cheaper Camry's that we will see would be cheap in features too.



One for me too!

Sorry sir but you are wrong.

Camry doesnt compete with the premium german cars at all. It competes with the nissan altima honda accord and volkswagen passat.

Is competes with a4 3 series and c class
Gs competes with a6 5 series and e class
Ls competes with a8 7 series and s class

[zenren]

Originally Posted by i<3turbo

Sorry sir but you are wrong.

Camry doesnt compete with the premium german cars at all. It competes with the nissan altima honda accord and volkswagen passat.

Is competes with a4 3 series and c class
Gs competes with a6 5 series and e class
Ls competes with a8 7 series and s class

Wow, you just replied to a 3.5 year old post!

He was referring to the price of Camry and the price of the Merc C/BMW 3/Accord in India which are actually in the same range.

When you consider Indian scene, Lexus cannot sell at the price of A4/c/3 unless they produce these cars in India and if taken the CBU route, IS would probably end up at the price point of E/A6/5

[gomzi]

Originally Posted by zenren

Wow, you just replied to a 3.5 year old post!

He was referring to the price of Camry and the price of the Merc C/BMW 3/Accord in India which are actually in the same range.

When you consider Indian scene, Lexus cannot sell at the price of A4/c/3 unless they produce these cars in India and if taken the CBU route, IS would probably end up at the price point of E/A6/5

Exactly! Even if its CKD, the main problem for Lexus in India is how to price it right. The Camry's cost is already pushing C/3 series territory. The brand value & "status" of the germans is such that pricing a lexus at a premium to respective competing german models would be suicide.

Toyota have created their own neat little problem here which is probably one of the factors stopping them from launching Lexus in India.
BTW, ditto for Honda, they'll face a similar problem if they want to get Acura here. Both these companies have been regularly raising the prices on Camry/Civic/Accord/CR-V to levels where most buyers start plumping for the competition for the "status" factor.

IMHO, Nissan have a chance to do it the proper way. They've got the C segment covered with the Sunny and some very sensible pricing. Maybe another sedan down the line ~ Rs. 2 Lakhs more expensive, similar to the US Altima and then the Infinity range starting from more than a few lakhs below the C/3 series. That's if they are serious about covering all bases in the Indian Auto market. I'd love to see a Murano giving the Fortuner a run for its money.

[Nitrous Power]

Originally Posted by gomzi

IMHO, Nissan have a chance to do it the proper way. They've got the C segment covered with the Sunny and some very sensible pricing. Maybe another sedan down the line ~ Rs. 2 Lakhs more expensive, similar to the US Altima and then the Infinity range starting from more than a few lakhs below the C/3 series. That's if they are serious about covering all bases in the Indian Auto market. I'd love to see a Murano giving the Fortuner a run for its money.

Not really. Nissan is also in the same boat as Toyota and Honda. Nissan Teana is priced almost identical to Toyota Camry. So they will also face same problems if they were to bring Infiniti to India.

And, Muran giving the Fortuner a run for its money. Well, both are different animals. Murano is a soft roader on monocoque chassis while Fortuner is hardcore truck on ladder on frame chassis. You can't compare these two.

[gomzi]

Originally Posted by Nitrous Power

Not really. Nissan is also in the same boat as Toyota and Honda. Nissan Teana is priced almost identical to Toyota Camry. So they will also face same problems if they were to bring Infiniti to India.

And, Muran giving the Fortuner a run for its money. Well, both are different animals. Murano is a soft roader on monocoque chassis while Fortuner is hardcore truck on ladder on frame chassis. You can't compare these two.

Oops, yes I forgot the Teana and X-trail for that matter. So yes Nissan haven't made things easy for themselves either.
As for comparing fortuner and murano, I'm simply stating from a pricing and positioning point of view only since typical buyers won't really care about chassis architecture as long as they get an SUV with x # of features, reliability and service backup for the price. Note I'm not comparing brands like Toyota and Ssangyong which seems a no contest.