I love my convertible first of all. I feel as though it's especially well made even through the eye's of this novice luxury car owner. Having my butt sit in many a car from BMW, Audi and Mercedes I feel as though the craftsmanship is at least on par with them. Yet, in looking at the various websites such as Forbes, USA today etc Lexus has yet to break into the top three. Those spots are usually resereved for BMW, Audi and Mercedes. As of 2013 only 46,000-+800 units were sold. That's not a lot. More like a niche luxury brand. What's holding Lexus back?

Granted I'll give them an out with the 2011 Tohoku earthquakes and tsunami's which added HUGE unimaginable challenges as employees had to work through that AND look after their families like any of us would. I'm hoping for a revival and wishing Lexus well going forward.

What are tour thoughts?

What are you talking about? Lexus has been in the race (if not the winner) in yearly luxury sales for a very long time.

Gotta stop you there, this really only applies to the high end Germans. Have you sat in a new 3-Series lately? Plastic(y), panel gaps interior and exterior. How about a last gen E60? Suffice to say not good.

You're speaking worldwide? Check on Audi's presence in the US lately? Pales in comparison to MB, Lexus and BMW.

The revival is here. Fully refreshed revamped line-up, RC and NX waiting in the wings, GS refresh and new RX next year. LS, LX, LF-LC (SC) after that.

What an odd post .

Not one mention in the following links

http://www.forbes.com/sites/hannahel...s-of-the-year/

http://mobile.bloomberg.com/news/201...-car-lead.html

http://luxurysociety.com/articles/20...brands-in-2013

http://www.autonews.com/article/2014...emplate=mobile

http://www.autonews.com/article/2013...emplate=mobile

OK. You get the idea.

Not odd but factual. Lexus numbers don't come close to the Germans. Now Toyota as a whole crushes them absolutely. I do believe that Lexus does have some nice offerings coming up. However so does it's competition. I try to be objective while not being a rabid fan. Please if you have any hard data to back up the fact that Lexus has beaten Audi, BMW or Mercedes I'd appreciate it.

Are those numbers world-wide sales?

Lexus can't compare with world-wide volume. They don't make A-class and B-class cars that are compact or subcompact, forward-wheel drive, 3 & 4-cylinder, 4 & 5-speed manual tranny cars. They don't make mass produced taxis and buses.

Lexus ain't about quantity. That's why it's so special to have one...

No way Lexus had 46773 global sales for the whole 2013!
IIRC, Lexus expected about 520 000. About one third of the volume of each of the germans.

As Philip says, it's about quality not quantity. New Lexus's carry on the tradition of great assembly and now have some of the best driving dynamics of their competitive sets. JD Power VDS 2014 shows Lexus distancing themselves from the competition.

lol... you got some bad sources in that pic... Lexus sold over 520k in 2013, record numbers. Also won July 2014 in the USA with 27.3k vehicles sold

p.s. 46k sales for Lexus is likely Lexus sales in Europe while for other manufacturers they got World Wide numbers, thats why you dont go to websites called "luxurysociety" for numbers :-)

True, true. I agree it's about quality But even taking into account US market sales they were half of their competition.
" U.S. BMW AG saw its new car sales in 2012 grow approximately 13.8 percent to 347,583, thereby marking the year as the carmaker’s best year in the U.S. in a long time. "

"As for U.S. sales of Mercedes-Benz brand cars, they climbed about 11.8 percent to approximately 274,100."

"Only in 2012 December, Audi AG sold slightly over 14.800. Lexus also experienced an improvement as 2012 car sales jumped approximately 31.2 percent to about 132.700 over a year."



LOL!!! OK, you got me there. One would be kicked out if the board room for that. But do take into account the other links.
My point is I believe that they WILL bounce back domestically and internationally as the Japanese recover from the twin disasters. Also taking into account Lexus only started in 1989 to be able to compete with such brands with deep history as the Germans says something. Truly a monumental achievement. They haven't been around even a half century

This article is from June, but seems relevant to the discussion:

http://www.bloomberg.com/news/2014-0...ace-again.html

Mercedes Benz and BMW have some really low rent models out there

In Germany the majority of the Taxis are manual diesel E-classes



Lexus is strictly luxury

there are plenty of LS as cabs in japan too