Lexus Shows A New Face, Demonstrates Independence
02-10-12, 11:45 AM
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Lexus Shows A New Face, Demonstrates Independence
Lexus Shows A New Face, Demonstrates Independence
By Bertel Schmitt on February 10, 2012
The trip had been keeping the gaggle of foreign reporters that cover the Japanese auto beat awake for weeks.
“Are you going on THE TRIP???” “Yes. Did you hear Toyota is actually PAYING for flight and hotel?” “REALLY?” “I kid you not.” “NO WAY!”
Not prone to believing in miracles, I called Toyota to find out what flight and hotel to book. “Oh, no. We’ll take care of you.” Unheard of.
Usually austere, Toyota wanted the members of the media to smell a whiff of luxury, and invited a hand-picked group of reporters to Maui, Dubai, Saint Tropez, Kagoshima and Miyazaki.
There, the new Lexus GS lineup was made available for driving. On the island of Kyushu, the new product could be experienced with a little more flair than at its unveiling in Tokyo two weeks earlier. That event had been more in line with the no-frills Toyota we know to love. Even the GS 350 for the photo-op had been parked in the same spot where Toyota had shown the new Camry in September of 2011. As if someone wanted to subliminally rub it in that the Lexus ES and GS share the platform with the Camry.
In Kagoshima, Lexus had a chance to showcase its independence.
That independence was just recently found. Germany’s Audi is the counterpiece to Lexus in the Volkswagen empire, and the major Lexus competitor in the market place. Audi is a successful global brand. Audi is an independent company with its own board. As part of Volkswagen’s Markentrennung (brand separation,) Audi has separate engineering, separate marketing, separate manufacturing, separate after sales, separate everything, down to a separate Audi bank. Audi reports to a small board at the Volkswagen Group, chaired by a former Audianer, Martin Winterkorn.
Lexus on the other hand had until recently been treated like a kept woman. Canadian Karl Schlicht, General Manager at Lexus and in charge of Lexus’ worldwide product and marketing planning division, explained to Automotive News at the Frankfurt Auto Show:
“Lexus never had a global leader at a senior level. We had six senior managing directors and executive vice presidents above us, all partly responsible, but never just overseeing Lexus.”
That changed. Now, Lexus is led by two managing officers, Kiyotaka Ise, and Kazuo Ohara. Ise is the engineer, Ohara is the sales and marketing man. Both report to Akio Toyoda, usually with Karl Schlicht in tow.
The Lexus brand is not as independent as Audi is, or even ever was. Many staff and line functions are shared. Lexus is basically an American brand that came “home” to Japan late. Lexus shook up the premium segment in America. However, it met with mixed success in the rest of the world. Despite its American roots, Lexus has only a small outpost in America that reports to Nagoya, where the Lexus HQ is located, explains Karl Schlicht during a multi-course dinner on the 42nd floor of the Grande Ocean Resort in Miyazaki.
At the same dinner, Schlicht dispels any notions of Lexus “doing an Infiniti” by leaving Japan. In November, Infiniti confirmed rumors that it will move its world HQ to Hong Kong. In April, Nissan’s luxury line will move into new digs in the Citi Tower in downtown Hong Kong. Lexus isn’t going anywhere, says Schlicht: “Marketing and engineering have to be in the same place. The hour drive from Nagoya to Toyota City already goes too far.”
The fledgling independence of Lexus is embodied in the face of Lexus` GS line. The so-called “spindle grille” is both a bow to Toyota’s heritage in weaving, and a signal that says “here comes a Lexus.” All future Lexus models will have this grille, in one way or the other. Before, you could easily confuse a Lexus in the rearview mirror with a Toyota, a car that does not possess much Überholprestige.
In the morning, at breakfast, we ask Kiyotaka Ise what took so long for Lexus to receive its own distinctive face. “It’s because I hadn’t been in charge,” says Ise.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201..._independence/
By Bertel Schmitt on February 10, 2012
The trip had been keeping the gaggle of foreign reporters that cover the Japanese auto beat awake for weeks.
“Are you going on THE TRIP???” “Yes. Did you hear Toyota is actually PAYING for flight and hotel?” “REALLY?” “I kid you not.” “NO WAY!”
Not prone to believing in miracles, I called Toyota to find out what flight and hotel to book. “Oh, no. We’ll take care of you.” Unheard of.
Usually austere, Toyota wanted the members of the media to smell a whiff of luxury, and invited a hand-picked group of reporters to Maui, Dubai, Saint Tropez, Kagoshima and Miyazaki.
There, the new Lexus GS lineup was made available for driving. On the island of Kyushu, the new product could be experienced with a little more flair than at its unveiling in Tokyo two weeks earlier. That event had been more in line with the no-frills Toyota we know to love. Even the GS 350 for the photo-op had been parked in the same spot where Toyota had shown the new Camry in September of 2011. As if someone wanted to subliminally rub it in that the Lexus ES and GS share the platform with the Camry.
In Kagoshima, Lexus had a chance to showcase its independence.
That independence was just recently found. Germany’s Audi is the counterpiece to Lexus in the Volkswagen empire, and the major Lexus competitor in the market place. Audi is a successful global brand. Audi is an independent company with its own board. As part of Volkswagen’s Markentrennung (brand separation,) Audi has separate engineering, separate marketing, separate manufacturing, separate after sales, separate everything, down to a separate Audi bank. Audi reports to a small board at the Volkswagen Group, chaired by a former Audianer, Martin Winterkorn.
Lexus on the other hand had until recently been treated like a kept woman. Canadian Karl Schlicht, General Manager at Lexus and in charge of Lexus’ worldwide product and marketing planning division, explained to Automotive News at the Frankfurt Auto Show:
“Lexus never had a global leader at a senior level. We had six senior managing directors and executive vice presidents above us, all partly responsible, but never just overseeing Lexus.”
That changed. Now, Lexus is led by two managing officers, Kiyotaka Ise, and Kazuo Ohara. Ise is the engineer, Ohara is the sales and marketing man. Both report to Akio Toyoda, usually with Karl Schlicht in tow.
The Lexus brand is not as independent as Audi is, or even ever was. Many staff and line functions are shared. Lexus is basically an American brand that came “home” to Japan late. Lexus shook up the premium segment in America. However, it met with mixed success in the rest of the world. Despite its American roots, Lexus has only a small outpost in America that reports to Nagoya, where the Lexus HQ is located, explains Karl Schlicht during a multi-course dinner on the 42nd floor of the Grande Ocean Resort in Miyazaki.
At the same dinner, Schlicht dispels any notions of Lexus “doing an Infiniti” by leaving Japan. In November, Infiniti confirmed rumors that it will move its world HQ to Hong Kong. In April, Nissan’s luxury line will move into new digs in the Citi Tower in downtown Hong Kong. Lexus isn’t going anywhere, says Schlicht: “Marketing and engineering have to be in the same place. The hour drive from Nagoya to Toyota City already goes too far.”
The fledgling independence of Lexus is embodied in the face of Lexus` GS line. The so-called “spindle grille” is both a bow to Toyota’s heritage in weaving, and a signal that says “here comes a Lexus.” All future Lexus models will have this grille, in one way or the other. Before, you could easily confuse a Lexus in the rearview mirror with a Toyota, a car that does not possess much Überholprestige.
In the morning, at breakfast, we ask Kiyotaka Ise what took so long for Lexus to receive its own distinctive face. “It’s because I hadn’t been in charge,” says Ise.
http://www.thetruthaboutcars.com/201..._independence/
02-10-12, 11:54 AM
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02-10-12, 02:20 PM
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02-10-12, 02:54 PM
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That article is so poorly written, so biased and so awful not sure how it made it to press and why anyone would post it. Its absolutely terrible in ways only dog **** ice cream could match. Its so unimaginative in bias we get the usual "all Lexus look like Toyotas" and "Lexus is based on Camry" jabs which at this point only a 3 year old would laugh at.
I need trolls to step their game up.
I need trolls to step their game up.
02-10-12, 03:38 PM
#7
Lexus Champion
That independence was just recently found. Germany’s Audi is the counterpiece to Lexus in the Volkswagen empire, and the major Lexus competitor in the market place. Audi is a successful global brand. Audi is an independent company with its own board. As part of Volkswagen’s Markentrennung (brand separation,) Audi has separate engineering, separate marketing, separate manufacturing, separate after sales, separate everything, down to a separate Audi bank. Audi reports to a small board at the Volkswagen Group, chaired by a former Audianer, Martin Winterkorn.
Lexus on the other hand had until recently been treated like a kept woman. Canadian Karl Schlicht, General Manager at Lexus and in charge of Lexus’ worldwide product and marketing planning division, explained to Automotive News at the Frankfurt Auto Show:
“Lexus never had a global leader at a senior level. We had six senior managing directors and executive vice presidents above us, all partly responsible, but never just overseeing Lexus.”
Lexus on the other hand had until recently been treated like a kept woman. Canadian Karl Schlicht, General Manager at Lexus and in charge of Lexus’ worldwide product and marketing planning division, explained to Automotive News at the Frankfurt Auto Show:
“Lexus never had a global leader at a senior level. We had six senior managing directors and executive vice presidents above us, all partly responsible, but never just overseeing Lexus.”
The American market and the global market are very different. Lexus, having been designed for the American market, has product suited for those buyers. Unfortunately, large RWD sedans with V8s and expensive hybrids are not ideal for many of the world's other countries. The CT200h is arguably the first Lexus designed with the global market in mind, but despite that, a lack of diesels and other configurations (like long wheel base A4s and 3ers in China) limit appeal for many global buyers. This is not necessarily a problem with the Lexus brand, but rather with the lack of product being sold. Take Audi, Mercedes, and BMW and limit their products to just V6s, V8s and expensive hybrids and their global sales would be butchered.
Audi is in the opposite boat, long seen in Europe as an cost effective alternative to BMW and Mercedes, its cars were not ideal for the American market. Sure a 4 cyl or diesel FWD luxury sedan has lower running costs and would sell in Europe, but in America it simply won't.
This is also why the RX and ES sell so well. The RX outsells all of its German rivals because it was designed for the American market, whereas the Q5, X3, GLK etc... weren't. They're smaller, costlier and not as substantial for the money. Likewise a Q5 would make a lot more sense in Europe than the RX. The Cadillac SRX is the only competitor to the RX that was also designed for the American market, and it's #2 in the segment.
What is incredible about the Germans is how relentless they are. They will create a diverse array of products and powertrains to fit every niche, whereas the Japanese are largely limited. I'm floored at how slow and conservative Toyota has been with Lexus given the corporation's size, engineering, and financial resources. If they keep moving at this pace the brand may be overtaken in the US by even Audi (which came within ~2000 of Lexus' sales in January).
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02-10-12, 04:14 PM
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Audi has no chance of outselling Lexus in USA.
02-10-12, 04:19 PM
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The American market and the global market are very different. Lexus, having been designed for the American market, has product suited for those buyers. Unfortunately, large RWD sedans with V8s and expensive hybrids are not ideal for many of the world's other countries. The CT200h is arguably the first Lexus designed with the global market in mind, but despite that, a lack of diesels and other configurations (like long wheel base A4s and 3ers in China) limit appeal for many global buyers. This is not necessarily a problem with the Lexus brand, but rather with the lack of product being sold. Take Audi, Mercedes, and BMW and limit their products to just V6s, V8s and expensive hybrids and their global sales would be butchered.
Audi is in the opposite boat, long seen in Europe as an cost effective alternative to BMW and Mercedes, its cars were not ideal for the American market. Sure a 4 cyl or diesel FWD luxury sedan has lower running costs and would sell in Europe, but in America it simply won't.
This is also why the RX and ES sell so well. The RX outsells all of its German rivals because it was designed for the American market, whereas the Q5, X3, GLK etc... weren't. They're smaller, costlier and not as substantial for the money. Likewise a Q5 would make a lot more sense in Europe than the RX. The Cadillac SRX is the only competitor to the RX that was also designed for the American market, and it's #2 in the segment.
What is incredible about the Germans is how relentless they are. They will create a diverse array of products and powertrains to fit every niche, whereas the Japanese are largely limited. I'm floored at how slow and conservative Toyota has been with Lexus given the corporation's size, engineering, and financial resources. If they keep moving at this pace the brand may be overtaken in the US by even Audi (which came within ~2000 of Lexus' sales in January).
Audi is in the opposite boat, long seen in Europe as an cost effective alternative to BMW and Mercedes, its cars were not ideal for the American market. Sure a 4 cyl or diesel FWD luxury sedan has lower running costs and would sell in Europe, but in America it simply won't.
This is also why the RX and ES sell so well. The RX outsells all of its German rivals because it was designed for the American market, whereas the Q5, X3, GLK etc... weren't. They're smaller, costlier and not as substantial for the money. Likewise a Q5 would make a lot more sense in Europe than the RX. The Cadillac SRX is the only competitor to the RX that was also designed for the American market, and it's #2 in the segment.
What is incredible about the Germans is how relentless they are. They will create a diverse array of products and powertrains to fit every niche, whereas the Japanese are largely limited. I'm floored at how slow and conservative Toyota has been with Lexus given the corporation's size, engineering, and financial resources. If they keep moving at this pace the brand may be overtaken in the US by even Audi (which came within ~2000 of Lexus' sales in January).
02-10-12, 04:34 PM
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Lexus needs a GS coupe, an IS coupe, an SC, a GS based CLS competitor, a sub RX CUV, an entire range of F cars, and a wider range of powertrains for all models, including 4 cylinders, diesels and V12s.
02-10-12, 05:32 PM
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Lexus is perfectly fine for a brand made 20 years ago. All those German automakers have rich history of about 100 years or more. You don't expect Lexus to go crazy and compete with the German automakers in every category without building history first because they will definitely fail doing so.
02-11-12, 02:15 AM
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This alone makes this a FAIL article when the writer doesn't even know basic facts and he's writing for a car blog of all things. He doesn't even have the excuse that's he's not a specialist car writer.
02-12-12, 01:41 AM
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Except that, I totally agree on Burns' post.
02-12-12, 02:23 AM
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In regards to Lexus designing cars with other continents in mind...
Lexus Norway had a 166,5% increase in sales in 2011 (compared to 2010) This almost singlehandedly due to the CT200h.
To really make a killing in europe we need more of this!
Diesel sales has, from what i can tell, taken a blow now that the NOx particle issue is out in the open. So what is needed in europe now is (high MPG) hybrid touring versions of IS and GS...and we need it now!
Lexus Norway had a 166,5% increase in sales in 2011 (compared to 2010) This almost singlehandedly due to the CT200h.
To really make a killing in europe we need more of this!
Diesel sales has, from what i can tell, taken a blow now that the NOx particle issue is out in the open. So what is needed in europe now is (high MPG) hybrid touring versions of IS and GS...and we need it now!