Why do Indian spec Lexus cars get LHD indicator stalk orientation?

Why would Lexus give LHD oriented control stalks for the Indian models, when they give proper RHD controls in other RHD markets have confused me to no end.

BHPian DicKy recently shared this with other enthusiasts.

Ever since Team-bhp had the first drive of the Lexus lineup in 2016, the first thing that caught my eyes was the LHD orientation of the control stalks.

Indian market 2018 Lexus ES300h with LHD control stalks.

Latest Indian market 2022 Lexus NX350h with LHD control stalks.

VNarayanan Sir's 2017 Bagheera with LHD control stalks.

Here we have 2023 Australian market Lexus ES with correct control stalk orientation.

And the ASEAN market Lexus ES with correct control stalk orientation.

A pet peeve of mine, this subject has been discussed to death in the forum for decades now.

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Why would Lexus give LHD oriented control stalks for the Indian models, when they give proper RHD controls in other RHD markets have confused me to no end. The first reason I could up with is that we were given UK spec models. Why that thought? Just that I read in some magazine that we were getting the UK spec cars as imports, namely the 2000s Prado. The CBU Kizashi straight from Japan also had LHD control stalks. Add to that the initial batch of Dmax pickups (double cabin) that was showcased in India too had the control stalks in LHD orientation. Again, UK spec.

Why the UK uses LHD orientation?

UK is pretty forced due to being an island in the midst of LHD markets.

In fact, if it was Volkswagen or Renault that had came instead of Maruti (read Suzuki), we may well have been forced as well to use LHD controls like UK does.

Funny thing is, in many UK based car reviews the poor guys point out RHD control stalks as oddity and cost cutting from the Oriental Far East, when in fact with the absence of strong domestic players, the cars from Ford/VW had made them get used to LHD stalks borne from cost cutting in the first place.

But just like how the Isuzu Dmax got RHD control stalks when production was localized, Lexus could have easily given RHD control stalks when the cars started hitting the market officially. Also, the UK spec argument doesn’t hold water when we get models that the UK market doesn’t. Like the Lexus LX. Also we get models that are different in spec compared to the UK.

JDM Lexus LX570 with correct RHD control stalk orientation.

Australian market 2023 Lexus LX600 with correct RHD control stalk orientation.

The 2023 Lexus LX500d shown at the 2023 Auto Expo. Presumably Indian spec. With LHD oriented control stalks.

Another argument was that Lexus is primarily a North American focussed company, so they would naturally use LHD control stalks especially in models like the Lexus ES. But that is a moot point, considering how other markets get RHD controls. Even the OG Lexus LS400 targeted at the US market had the correct control stalk orientation in RHD markets.

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