Lexus: A Brand for the Over 50 Crowd?
There’s no doubt Lexus is flogging its rivals in America’s competitive luxury market but there remains serious concerns within Lexus that this success could be a single-generation phenomena and that the next-generation of buyers are more likely to look elsewhere for a luxury vehicle. Market researchers predict the average age of luxury buyers will drop dramatically over the next decade, and this could hurt Lexus whose customers are traditionally much older than those of its rivals.

The news comes from former Lexus General Manager Jim Farley, who spoke with Automotive News prior to leaving his job last week to head to Ford. According to Farley, Lexus needs to “look very critically at the 30 to 40 year old customer.” As an example of how severe the situation is Farley explains that the Lexus ES 350’s average customer is aged 61, and their number-one occupation is “retired.” In fact, Farley revealed that 40% of Lexus buyers are over 60.

A study conducted by Power Information Network found that Lexus owners are older on average than all its rivals except Jaguar, Lincoln and Cadillac.

To overcome this Lexus is likely to introduce a small entry-level hatch model along the lines of the BMW 1-series, however the U.S. may miss out on this car. Instead, there are plans to introduce more performance models like the IS-F to help boost Lexus’ image among the young and performance crowds.

 

Lexus had the younger market pegged with the 1IS... but the departure from that is changing their image once again. How the people at Lexus allowed for a complete 180 on the design and the target market of the IS is beyond me. It began as the car that was to attract the younger crowd, which it did successfully. Then, they went and changed it to yet another "old folks" car in a brand with a lot of "old folks" cars...

 

Not really. If desired, there is no reason why younger people cannot buy more sedate, relaxing, luxury-type cars, and no reason why older people cannot buy more sporting models. This so-called "youth" and "old-man's" image stuff is a bunch of nonsense.......always was, and always will be.

Only an idiot lets his or her purchase decision be influenced by it. I sure never did.

 

Agreed. I see more gray hair buzzards in Porshes these days.. For real

 

Maybe it shows a more mature sense of taste and shows more sophistication and class. I think that Lexus should keep at what they are doing now, they have the LS which they are known for, and the IS for the "younger ones".

But they do make a good point about the age group of owners dropping, and I think that is mainly due to income as well, people are getting richer, younger. Not to mention that newer cars are coming out faster as well, therefore it won't be long before you can pick one up for a steal!

 

theres really not a whole lot of 20-30 year olds that can afford one in the first place. Obviously the older folks have the money to drop on a more expensive car

 

Well Jim, if you think Lexus is an old brand, look no further than your new brand Lincoln, which has an average age of 87. Most of those people moved up from a Model T to a new Lincoln.

 

My family has three Lexus.

My sister was 31 when she bought her GS300.
I was 28 when I got the IS350.
My brother was 25 when he got his ES350.

I think that Lexus drivers are conservative compared to other luxury car drivers, but not "elderly." Yes, BMW and Audi drivers will be younger than Lexus and Mercedes drivers, but that doesn't make us "elderly."

 

This bit of "news" is a little bit silly. Most 20 - 30 year olds can't afford a luxury car, so automatically luxury brands have an older demographic than compared to "mainstream" cheaper brands.

Yes, it's true that Lexus needs to look at the 30 - 40 year old crowd, and Lexus is working hard to grab more of those buyers.

And 40% of Lexus buyers are over 60? So what? Talk about a meaningless statistic. What this story doesn't mention is that the average age of a Lexus buyer has declined over the past few years thanks to models like the IS350. Also, the LS460 is attracting more younger buyers than the LS430.

Toyota has known for a long time about the problem that this story is mentioning. They are well underway with plans to reduce the age of Lexus buyers, and it's already been happening over the past few years.

 

I've been saying this for years now, but I think Lexus needs to readily offer a factory SPORTS PACKAGE on the GS... sportier suspension with less body roll, aero kit, more aggressive looking wheels, sports seats, and thicker smaller steering wheel. Mercedes does a PHENOMENAL job with their sport models, even if they are more on the cosmetic side. E-Class, 5 series, A6, M45 all offer a sport model. I really think this would breath some life into GS sales and pull in more of the 30-40 crowd. I know Toyota is very careful in their strategic planning, but right now there is not much for current IS drivers to upgrade to without losing some sportiness.

 

I was 29 when I got my RX300, used I might add. I mean, I hardly know anyone my age down here that has anything that costs over $30,000 USD or even $25,000 USD new (which is about what I call the luxury line here). Though many a Mexican has told me that the VW Jetta is the gold standard, above it you have luxury, below it, you still have some work to do.

My earliest impression of a luxury vehicle for me was something I was going to own when I was older, definitely not in my 20s or 30s, but something I would get perhaps in my 40s, definitely in my 50s after I had worked my way through life.

Tighening credit also will continue to affect this market dynamic.

 

Hmmm....i bought my brand new ls430 when i was 26. i guess i am in the minority....=/

 

More so of the Town Car than other Lincolns. Just look at Navigators, for example......look at their popularity among age 20-30 NFL and NBA athletes and rappers almost as young.

And, even then, when teen-agers want to go to the prom, what's the first car they usually get? Right.....a Town Car limo.

 

You are not in as much of a minority as you think.

 

Yep. Most of the guys I see in $100,000-plus Porsche Turbos and Ferraris are aged doctors or lawyers. (lawyers, of course, know how to fight speeding tickets )