Not that the average American Lexus buyer could give a damn, but Toyota's luxury division has singularly failed to gain traction outside the U.S. market. Which is exactly the point: Americans are far less bothered by issues of provenance (i.e. or lack thereof) than any other developed automotive market. Business Week reports that the analysis applies to Lexus' home turf. "When Toyota (TM) introduced its Lexus brand in Japan three years ago, the company was hoping drivers like Masayoshi Haku would swoon over the luxury lineup. The 46-year-old doctor is a car lover with a $110,000 BMW 750 sedan and a $60,000 Porsche Boxster, so he should have been a prime customer for Lexus. But Haku hasn't taken the bait. Why? Lexus is too Japanese for his tastes… 'Foreign brands have more individuality.'" Sales reflect this non-import bias; Lexus sold just 34,800 cars in Japan last year. As Biz Week points out, Lexus did itself no favors with its initial lineup, featuring "the $52,000 GS sports sedan, the $68,000 SC convertible, and the entry-level IS sedan, starting at about $40,000. All three had previously been available in Japan under the Toyota nameplate— for about 20% less than the Lexus models." Oops. [thanks to stalightmica for the link]
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Selling a rebadged Aristo as the GS, a rebadged Soarer as the SC, and a rebadged Altezza as the IS. I would’ve hoped that ToMoCo had realized the pitfalls of badge engineering after watching what GM did.
So much for arguments about purity of origin…
Hopefully Ghosn is watching this as he plans on bringing Infiniti to Japan.
Lexus has nothing to lose, if they are not doing good in Japan, no problem they can always revert back. I think Lexus is just testing waters.
Another problem is that in Japan, even downmarket brand dealerships treat you the way Lexus does here. It’s harder for Lexus to distinguish themselves in that way, over there.
quasimondo- lexus is not rebadging in Japan, they just have altered nomenclature, because japanese don`t like these short letter abbreviations. Don`t you think Altezza sounds better than GS? By the way, altezza name is used for transparent taillights with chrome lamp housing inside, and was started in Toyota Altezza. Imagine tuners bragging around that they have bought an aftermarket gs taillights? Let`s leave these boring names to germans, and those who chase them, or think, they are chasing them.
Altezza = IS
Windom = ES
Aristo = GS
Celsior = LS
Soarer = SC
Harrier = RX
Land Cruiser Prado = GX
Land Cruiser Cygnus = LX
But yeah, the IS was one of the first cars to come with transparent taillights, so people outside of Japan started calling them “altezzas” and the name stuck. Given that they’ve become common on many cars (stock), Toyota can be proud of having actually affected car design.
The sales of Harley Davidsons are pretty respectable there, as well, as it’s a sign of one’s wealth (and eclectic tastes?).
I’ve got nothing against “Altezza” taillights per se, but they just look like crap on some cars.
Jurisb,
Altered nomenclature with a 20-percent increase in price? If Cadillac did that you’d be all over them.
Oh, wait…
The 20% bit sounds good, alas it’s not strictly true. Although the SC430 was indeed sold as the Toyota Soarer, the current generation of both the GS and the IS arrived in Japan directly as Lexuses.
If, as mentioned, those three cars did not take the market by storm, the LS is doing quite well against the S Class, the king of the luxobarge niche. The Merc is most often seen in top spec models because they are the most expensive and that is the entire point of buying one for a lot of the show off types that make the customer base for the german brands in Japan. That’s what “individuality” means in the quote above.
With the LS600h, which takes the spot of most expensive japanese car on the market, there is at last an opportunity for those guys to throw a load of cash at a japanese car and not being laughed off the golf club car park by their german-equipped peers. This is an important starting point. The brand cachet (pardon my french) will eventually cascade down the social ladder from there. Toyota can afford to wait some years…
Toyota sales were down 7% in Japan last year, maybe there should be a Toyota/Lexus death watch series.
The 20% bit sounds good, alas it’s not strictly true. Although the SC430 was indeed sold as the Toyota Soarer, the current generation of both the GS and the IS arrived in Japan directly as Lexuses.
People aren’t stupid. Even with the redesign, they know the IS is an Altezza, plus a 20 percent markup. There was no significant increase in the price of the IS, GS, or SC in the American market when those cars were redesigned, so how can Toyota expect their home market to buy when it looks like they’re charging you more for a badge change?
This is very interesting I think, especially the Lexus is too Japanese for his tastes… ‘Foreign brands have more individuality.\'” comment from the Japanese fellow. I guess this just re-enforces the “Lexus is for people who hate to drive” statement that I love quoting. But I guess that while I do think they offer a very good luxury ride quality, it’s almost too placid and dulled to boredome, eh.
Is this re-badging & price-point issue the reason why Acura doesn’t exist in Japan?
Well 38,000 units in a country of 125 million isn’t exactly diddly squat. Toyota/Lexus is in it for the long haul. To be continued…
I road in a 1995 Soarer back in 1996, a SC300 with japanese drive. Great car, made me want one stateside. They have strange names for cars there, like Bluebird for Nissan’s flagship and ED for one of Toyota’s Japan only brands. I can’t see American men buying a car with an name like ED.
So this story is really making the rounds. First off, it is not a new story.
Toyota lowered the projected sales for Lexus quite early on, realizing that they had a dearth of product and a slowing auto economy. The current projected sales are 40K a year, so Lexus actually came quite close to it.
The article also fails to mention that Lexus sales are actually right in line with the Euro brands. BMW sells highest at about 45K, but Merc is around 30K and Audi trails at 15K. In fact Lexus outsold Merc in Jauary (app. 3000 to 2300), despite, as the article claims, its January sales being so low.
So what is really going on here? Either a slow news day at BusinessWeek or an agenda???…
A number of years ago Lexus sued a bunch of gray-market importers who were buying JHM Toyotas with right-hand drive, adding Lexus badges (purchased over the parts counter) and selling them in the UK. The charge was that these importers were committing fraud! The irony is pronounced.