100% hogwash. If people mistake a Camry with an ES or LS, they probably confuse the following as well;
men and women
milk and beer
dogs and giraffes
George Bush and Malcolm X
Tera Patrick and Rosie Odonell


My 2 more cents.
Lexus is one of the few, if not ONLY luxury car brand where previously NONE of their cars looked alike and people liked that aspect of them and you could STILL tell it was a Lexus, badge or no badge.

I think the Lexus badge is a nice touch, its a nice name and its a "Lexus" trademark.

 

If you ask the most important question, "Would Lexus remove the word Lexus from their vehicles", I think the answer would be NO! Think of the multi-millions of dollars they've spent in advertising, promotion, customer service etc. since inception to establish the brands name. I doubt if they would decide to pull the name off of the cars they sell.

 

OUCH!!!

Ummm... Some people mistake a Camry with an ES and there's nothing wrong with that... However, your examples are a little bit over the top. Maybe George Bush and a monkey?

Good point.

 

An older couple walked around my IS a few days ago when it was parked at my office parking lot.
I was just happened to go home and it was 5.30 pm.
As I walk towards my car, I saw the husband fully-circled my car twice!
His wife was standing near the rear of the vehicle, mesmerizing (i guess).

"Beautiful car". he said to me.
"Really beautiful lines! What car is it?"
And i replied "It is the newer IS".
He asked "Oh, is it a mercedes?".
And I said "Oh no, it is from Lexus".

Lexus will need to spell out the words BIGGER instead of eliminating it.....
The guy should have seen "LEXUS" when circling my car twice, no?

 

It doesn't even matter if they leave it or not I guess

 

Do you know that Lexus stands for Luxury Export to the United States? Doesn't sound so regal anymore, does it?

I'm pretty sure I read this in that Lexus history book while waiting at a dealer once.

By the way, I don't think Lexus should remove its name from their cars. Automakers shouldn't tamper with their brand images when what they have works fine for them and is inline with the company's history (e.g., Ford discontinuing the Taurus for the Five Hundred, then changing their mind to bring Tauras back).

 

This was taken from Wikipedia...

In 1986, Toyota’s longtime advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi formed a specialized unit, Team One, to handle marketing for the new luxury brand.[3] Image consulting firm Lippincott & Margulies was hired to develop a list of 219 prospective names; Vectre, Verone, Chaparel, Calibre and Alexis were chosen as top candidates. While Alexis quickly became the front runner (possibly due to the association with the Alexis Carrington character on the popular 1980s primetime drama Dynasty) and later morphed to Lexus, the name has been attributed to the combination of the words "luxury" and "elegance."[5] According to Toyota, the name has no specific meaning and is just meant to be pleasing and easy to remember.

 

With the brain power of some, it argues the point that cars need all the ID they can get. Looking at emblems, they have grown larger and larger...which I don't like.

My vote...no, keep them on. (BUT take out the registration holes.)

Porsche has a designation delete option. But that body style is well burned-in.

 

This I can agree with. Or better yet, have no registration holes and instead of a badge delete option make it a pay option to add it on. Then those that don't want it don't have to pay for it, and those that say they want it can have it. Those that want it but don't want to pay for it, well, I guess they don't want it bad enough

 

Just wanted to add my two cents to this thread, took me awhile to find the pics. Should "Lexus" remove the word? IMO, no, however they can adjust how the use it, and they have. Lexus has some of the best marketing minds behind it, and everything has a reason:

1989 - LS 400 has no model numbers on it at all... only "Lexus": The other Japanese luxury makes did not do this, but Lexus did it...why? No one knew what a "Lexus" was, and instead of objectifying the cars as the LS 400s, the public saw this as "a Lexus" first and foremost.



As for the ES 250, it did have the model designation, but placed lower, near bumper level and on top of the brake light. The 1992 ES 300 did the same thing, while the 1LS never had the "LS 400" designation IIRC.



Late 90's - by this time, Lexus had now become well-known and the model designation was carried on all models, and eventually moved up (in the case of the LS 400, ES 300, SC 300/400) to the same level as Lexus and the Circle-L emblem:



2000's - Lexus does the same thing across the board, largely like the ES:



However, with the introduction of L-finesse, the status quo changed. Perhaps part of the reason is Lexus is launching globally and is competing with the German marques more than ever. And if you look for instance at a Mercedes (e.g. http://us.autos1.yimg.com/img.autos....nk_640x480.jpg)...
It's apparent that the marque speaks for itself.

2005 - So can the Circle-L do the same? Lexus seems to be transitioning: Such that the ES, IS, and GS all have the emblem up top, by itself, such as here:



2006, on the IS:



2006 - Only the LS still has the "Lexus" name and model number at the top of the bumper. Perhaps the other arrangement is too "sporty" and not "loud" enough.



2007 - Lexus has switched to the use of emblems only in its advertisements, both in print and on television (in America only; in Europe and Asia the whole name is still used). This is probable because name recognition for Lexus is still in the single digits in Europe. Evidently, in America they feel that they are well-known enough.



Another thing is, the original Lexus logo with emblem+name is changed from its 1989 design; now the Circle-L is larger, a version previously used by the Lexus dealership signs mostly.



I agree Lexus could offer a name-off version. However, the "Lexus" name itself is stylized unlike the simpler versions used by MB and BMW; it was designed to look like "a piece of jewelry." And it was included in the cabin on the dash, but not plastered repeatedly everywhere. It is an effective branding for a luxury item. So I think modulation of its use, but still continued use, is the likely best path.

 

should stay on why copy and remove I agree with the others!

Lexus does sound luxurious..plus that is how it's always been, not saying I'm not up for change but that is a trademark for Lexus..ie it's worth money..

 

Lexus. Keep it on. It's a reflection of the Pursuit of Perfection. The name probably means something more deeper to them that's why they kept it on....

and just for fun, keep the badges on so you could tell if it was an Altezza or IS, Soarer or SC, Aristo or GS, Windom or ES, Celsior or LS, etc. Some people say they're the same, but they're not... like the SC and Soarer. Same chasis, but different motors, etc.

Some people that want to go jdm still have trouble with deciding to switch to toyota emblems... because it's kinda like... a downgrade I guess.

 

If they were to drop the 'Lexus' emblem, then the model name would need to move to the center of the car, otherwise the balance would be off.

From a brand perspective, removing all badges is a bad idea. There are plenty of people out there who aren't "car people" who won't know what a car is unless they read it on the back. If they're taking the time to read the back to figure out what it is, then it's worth telling them.

The only car (in the US) that I think could get away with no badges/emblems at all is the Corvette.

 

If the circle L was as recognizable as the three pointed star, they could. Until then they can't as it could cost them sales. More people know the MB symbol means MB then the circle L means Lexus. Had Lexus started out with the L, they would not need the name telling you what the symbol means.