pbm317

Most things at Toyota/Lexus are like a big ship, changing direction is super hard. That paired with japanese management that is unwilling to potentially take away from something they see as "successful" as the RX.

Scion was supposed to have completely different models every few years, but when the original xB sold well, they couldn't justify moving away and re-upped with the 2nd gen xB and ruined the formula. Leaving the door wide open for Kia Soul to run away with the segment.

Lexus started with the 2 Row RX, and they are hooked on it. Even as competitors have quickly moved to straddle with a true 3 row and now the smaller CUV's, Lexus sits with the 2 row RX.

Toyota/Lexus needs to take a chance and be willing to cannibalize its own products with something new that could be part of a strategy to grow even further. Apple was willing to do this in the past, killing off what was the #1 Mp3 player on the market, iPod, with a totally new line of, more profitable products, the iPhone.

Even with NX coming up, one would think the next gen RX would move up to become a 3 row, but as far as I know, that's still not in the cards.

I8ABMR

Thanks for explaining. I was wondering about that recently

LexFather

The NX is not meant to sell in volume like the RX or like some of the competition. It will have a smaller sales goal and is part of Lexus strategy to offer more vehicles and expand in a hot segment that is here to stay.

If anything I hope the NX drives best/sportiest in class with the usual Lexus qualities. Outside of the pitiful RDX (which sells well to loyal Civic buyers), the entire class is pretty solid.

LexBob2

From their Road Tests, CR ranks the major entries in this segment in this order:

X3, RDX, Q5, GLK (tie), SRX.

LexFather

Right consumer reports..... Curious how an enthusiast mag ranks them...I honestly don't remember reading any comparos due to no interest....

LexBob2

Since the majority of these are family haulers to one degree or another, I'd wager CR is referred to as much or more than the enthusiast mags by potential buyers. I chose a Q5, but there isn't anything srong with the RDX.

In any case, I'm sure that Honda/Acura takes each sale (45k last year) to the bank with a smile.

LexFather

The RDX doesn't even have parking sensors, nor LED rear lights, no rear A/C vent, no Blind Spot Monitoring, no fog lamps and halogens standard and missing a bunch of pretty basic items in many non luxury cars let alone luxury ones. It lost its SH-AWD and is CR-V based. There is no direct injection and the passenger seat is a 4 way power seat lol. No cooled seats or even rain sensing wipers. It is missing a TON of basic features. A Ford Escape or Hyundai/KIA SUV offers far more.

Its among the blandest vehicles on the road today so its not surprising it sells but its really a poor offering. The Camry gets beat up so not sure why this isn't, its really really average at best.

LexBob2

And still, it outsells it's competition in the segment. It might be on price, standard V6, reputation etc. Maybe the aforementioned bells and whistles aren't that important to a lot of actual buyers at this time.

Oh well, we like our Q5 and I'm sure a majority of RDX buyers like theirs too.

LexFather

Its not really competition, its not at those vehicle's level, it doesn't offer half the features those vehicle offer as I posted. Its simply a vehicle for loyal fans of that marque. Odd that the Camry gets bashed for being average yet it sells well and people give the RDX a pass.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

let's stay on the NX and relevant competitors, not the RDX or Camry. thanks.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

RDX is 183" and Rav4 is 179" and current RX is 187" and NX is expected to be 180-183". Sooo ball's in your court sport..

LexBob2

No surprise, but all of the competition in the segment is very close in size. NX 180"-183", X3 183", RDX 184", Q5 182", GLK 178",

This segment will continue to grow with the addition of the NX.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

Right. Which is why I had to make light of his comment

LexFather

Yup and honestly I can barely consider a "luxury" badged vehicle missing that many basic items as competition. The NX clearly steers far away from this vanilla offering, the NX is more in the Evoque style as I mentioned quite some time ago.

They are competitors maybe due to size and price but I expect the two at complete opposite ends of the spectrum in the class.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i don't consider the rdx a luxury vehicle, so no, i don't think it's competitor to any lexus. it's more a competitor to the rav4 you mention or a mazda cx7 or something. acura is able to sell the rdx to people who aren't into lots of tech (obviously), and value honda/acura's reliability, resale value, and refinement (although acuras have never been known as particularly quiet).