Lexus Testing Avenues in Which to Beat German Luxury Brands
By Brian Dally

What would you suggest Lexus do to ****** sales from German brands? See how your ideas compare to the automaker's inside.

 

Definitely high performance SUV.

 

There really is nothing they can do, there is the whole brand perception thing the Germans have been able to brainwash people into believing. European = Luxury, Japanese = Step down entry level luxury.

 

I would really just rather that Lexus not concern itself with what the Germans are or aren't and just go their own Lexus way. High quality, quiet luxury, competent road manners, etc.

 

 

That's basically what Lexus did......up till about 10 years ago.

 

 

 

By removing the controversial ugly grilles.

Why do you think Mercedes and BMW sold more cars than Audi? They still kept their conservative looks.

 

That is exactly what the German luxury makers thought before 1989.

 

Stop pricing cars so high, pricing is getting out of hand, and many people will just buy a German car at a certain point when the price gap gets closer and closer.

Get quality and reliability back under control and if there is a design issue, fix the issue for owners instead of putting a limited time frame when they will fix it and accepting for some while denying for others fixing their mistakes. I read too much about that, especially with the 4th Gen LS and then they charge insane prices to fix the issues if they are not covered.

Give us more power and better engines that people want. They should not have dropped the V8 for the 4th Gen GS for the over priced hybrid that does not sell, the 4 cylinder should not be in the GS. They need to separate the GS from the ES more if they are going to charge such a premium or lower the cost of the premium between the two.

Stop with the mouse and getting rid of physical buttons, it just makes interiors look plain and adds irritating steps to simple commands which is annoying and dangerous.

Stop gouging customers at dealerships on service and repairs, it is highway robbery and ridiculous the prices they are charging, it is a huge turn off and again many buyers will just choose German brands if they are getting ripped off so much at Lexus dealerships.

There should not be compromises when choosing AWD like losing hp, the car being slower, or it sitting too high ruining the stance like with the LS460 and GS AWD.

Coupes are too heavy.

Don't try to go directly at the Germans, especially with price and small engines, offer more for less money with what has worked in the past with Lexus.

 

get more aggressive with leasing as that's the majority of luxury vehicle sales today and only going to get more so. lexus probably has higher purchase vs. lease sales because the lexus buyer tends to be more 'sensible' and probably keeps the vehicle longer vs the typical 3 year flip - rinse - repeat cycle for german brand buyers.

a lease makes sense for a luxury vehicle because the tech is becoming so complex few people will be able to afford to fix them at all out of warranty. i expect my next vehicle will be a lease.

 

If you want to beat the Germans, then go back to square one, but this time build high performance cars for fraction of the cost. You already nailed the luxury.

 

Lexus is NOT a German brand, so stop trying to be another German brand, even a "value" German brand. Lexus (and now Genesis) used value -- more features, more equipment, more luxury car for the buck -- to prove themselves as luxury automakers. But Lexus is now an established and recognized luxury brand so it no longer needs to play the underdog.

Lexus needs to establish (which it has already started) its own brand identity and maintain it. Nurture and constantly refine the identity (which it seems to be doing) but do not make sudden about-face changes, like Acura and Lincoln have recently done. Sudden and drastic identity changes signal that the brand has no direction.

"No more boring cars" is a nice tag line and nice philosophy but it should not mean spending too much resources on any one area, such as wannabe styling or trying to play the Germans' horsepower game (which Lexus will never win). Spending all resources on one particular area forces compromises in other areas (e.g. spending a lot on horsepower may mean compromising on comfort, refinement and reliability).

Decide what you want to be (a quiet, conservative Japanese luxury automaker is good and there is no need to copy someone else) and then maintain and nurture that identity.

 

Thank you. I prefer to have choice of different experiences among different brands. Even if Lexus is aiming to "beat" Germany, I want them to remain distinctly Japanese in their design and execution - it's what currently sets them apart and would be a shame to lose.