Lexus Plans a Redesign of Its Lineup

[coolcaddy]

Toyota's Lexus Plans a Redesign of Its Lineup
The U.S.' No. 1 luxury car brand is seeking to attract younger buyers with sportier offerings.

By John O'Dell, Times Staff Writer

When Toyota Motor Corp. rolled out its Lexus brand 15 years ago, rival auto executives snickered at the prospect of a Japanese automaker hitting it big in the tough U.S. luxury-car market.

The doubters were asleep at the wheel. By 2000, Lexus had shot past the Americans and Europeans to become the bestselling luxury auto brand in the nation.

Now Lexus' challenge is to avoid the complacency that toppled other luxury leaders during its ascent.

The brand built its success with a reputation for reliability, consistently placing in the top ranks of customer satisfaction surveys.

"They have become successful because of bulletproof reliability and durability, great customer service and because they went for the sweet spot of the market with [softer] American ride and handling," said automotive market analyst Jim Hossack of Tustin-based AutoPacific Inc.

Lexus also astutely targeted a customer base of baby boomers entering their peak earning years.

But rivals sell to the same crowd of fiftysomethings. And in recent years General Motors Corp.'s Cadillac, BMW and DaimlerChrysler's Mercedes-Benz all have done a better job of attracting the more serious automotive enthusiasts among boomers by offering models with bigger engines, faster acceleration, stiffer handling and more daring styling.

"Lexus is the most conservative of the luxury brands," said Jeff Schuster, senior director of global forecasting at J.D. Power & Associates, the Westlake Village automotive market research firm. "They are facing more challenges from competitors hoping to knock them down, so they cannot afford to let up."

Dennis Clements, 59, head of U.S. operations for Lexus, part of Toyota Motor Sales USA in Torrance, acknowledges that the brand's core market of aging boomers "is not a good one to build an image in."

To keep the marque fresh and draw younger buyers, Lexus is redesigning its entire lineup over the next four years. "You'll see sportier cars, more powerful cars and trucks, [with] a wider range of engines," he said.

First up early next year is the RX 400 sport utility, the nation's first luxury gas-and-electric-powered hybrid vehicle.

Unlike Toyota's popular gas-miserly Prius compact, the RX 400 will be all about power and performance. An electric motor will augment a six-cylinder gas engine, boosting power from 230 horsepower in the current RX 330 model to 270 hp in the hybrid. The hybrid RX, with a base price expected to top $45,000, also will be equipped with a new electronic stability system.

Next will be redesigned Lexus GS sedans, with all-wheel-drive options, out in the spring.

Convertible and coupe versions of Lexus' sportiest car, the IS 300 sedan, are due as 2006 models, with a new Lexus sport wagon styled like a lower, leaner SUV expected in 2007. The wagon is the first of a series of new crossovers — wagon or SUV styles built on conventional passenger car platforms — that Lexus is planning, Clements said. Many will be offered both as conventional gasoline-engine vehicles and as hybrids.

All-wheel drive will also become an option on most Lexus vehicles. And an electronic stability control system that the company claims is far ahead of anything now available will debut next year.

"We intend to give our buyers best-in-class performance at all levels," Clements said.

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[dav305z]

Lexus needs to do this, as other brands (Cadillac) now almost if not completely match them in reliability and quality while completely outstripping them in terms of style and performance.

As for Cadillac, they will be fine in the face of this new product onslaught if they can keep their momentum. Im a little concerned that i do not hear anything regarding redesigns of the CTS, SRX etc. I know that they're very new, but thats how u stay on top.

[oldsintrigue00]

ok i think the next RX will be overpriced which might help out GM buy offering a higher priced alternative gas vehicle and much higher than a rainier even with a hybrid type of engine Buick will succeed when GM decides to put a hybrid motor into the Rainier/TB/Envoy/9-7X hopefully b4 Lexus puts it into the RX..2nd i think theyre makin a great stride into the large Lux car market with the new GS and with the ES it should be discontinued i dont see many if any at all ES's...a new IS depending on Toyotas idea of a sport sedan vert and wagon it might do well...with a crossover i think itll be the next Matrix body

[Ed_21E]

When I think of Lexus..........I think of........[b]really bland, boring to drive, ugly Toyota that sell only on their quality, and lack of automotive passion!

[dav305z]

Originally posted by Ed_21E@Sep 8 2004, 12:52 AM
[b] When I think of Lexus..........I think of........really bland, boring to drive, ugly Toyota that sell only on their quality, and lack of automotive passion!

But they have had success.

For this reason, i believe they might be a good model for Buick. This would be an example of how GM could use its multiple brands to an advantage. Buick could aggressively go after "Lexus" type buyers with its Quiet Tuned comfortable cars leaving Cadillac free to be edgy and continue battliung the likes of BMW and Mercedes.

But as this article indicates that Lexus is a moving target, and Buick will have to spend its recent allotment of cash wisely to catch up.

[4runner]

If Lexus puts the same effort into performance and styling as they have into quality - the luxury car market landscape could shift favorably in Lexus' favor.

[91fairladyZ]

Man, they don't plan on releaseing the new GS until the spring. By then the new RL, M45, and new STS will all be out and satisfying customers. Too bad.

[paul3230]

I think Lexus, while maintaining their current base, is finding themselves in quite a hard spot. I mean think about it, Lexus hasn't really ever committed that they needed to change their formula. It's worked from the get go. Copy everybody else and then make it better. But now, it's not working so hot. And even though their promising more daring styling, it's on the same level as Caddy. The new GS shapes are nice looking, but hardly daring enough that they can't be possibly be mistaken for the new "Acura" or "Infiniti". That could be great for them, bad for Lexus.

[mgescuro]

Originally posted by 4runner@Sep 7 2004, 08:03 PM
If Lexus puts the same effort into performance and styling as they have into quality - the luxury car market landscape could shift favorably in Lexus' favor.

<_< Try as they might... Lexus and Toyota make the blandest cars on the road. They hire new people to design "better cars" but they still turn out bland.

What's worse... Toyotas and Lexus have the same high-mounted center console.. that is both irritating and ugly. Sure... they make bulletproof cars (except for Scion... which is odd, since they'r emade on the same line as the Corolla) but the design is really quite crap.

ANd we've all seen pics of the new GS.... it looks like a Prius.... just larger!!

[barcodedorganic]

Originally posted by paul3230@Sep 8 2004, 03:19 AM
Copy everybody else and then make it better.

that's more then a toyota state of mind...it's a japanese culture thing...and i'm all for it...refining existing technologies is a very good thing...then with the occasional leap frog to gain a foot hold

[Darc Requiem]

Mgescuro, I concur with you comments on the GS' styling. It looks like a giant Prius. If this is Toyota's new styling direction they are just handing their market share to their competitors. They have sterile, passionless, and plain(I refuse to use that other word) styling. For people that view their cars as status symbols or appliances this is fine. For people that draw enjoyment from driving their vehicles, this is not satisfactory.

Darc Requiem

[ponchoman49]

Lexus suffers the alphabet syndrome. LS, GS, ES, IS, SC, LX, GX, and RX! Boooooring! This company for sure builds quality cars that ride as quiet as tombs and coddle there passengers. But several of there products have grown stagnant. Funny it's taken the press so long to figure that one out. But Toyota and Lexus have always been about passionless appliances that take you from point A to point B. This is one of those brands that induces yawns and sleep whenever a co-worker starts talking about them and I always chuckle when they start talking about a specific letter model cause I have no idea what the heck it is. It's a good thing there website has a alphabet soup drop down list to show me which car is which!

[New_Mexico_Sunset_on_Rt66]

one monkey wrench in these works is a Cadillac brand which stands on its own and is on the way back.

And GM pumping money into Buick.

um, look out here come the Americans!

[tgagneguam]

Yah, this is a real problem. As much as people want to think Lexus will fail, I think if any company is up to the challenge, it's Lexus. After all, they went from relative obscurity 15 years ago to the clear number one luxury car company in sales recently. And they generate a whole lot of cash in the process.

It would behoove Cadillac, BMW, and Mercedes to [continue to] watch Lexus. Isn't underestimating Lexus in part what brought Cadillac to its knees at the end of the 1990's?

[rickhunter1max]

Plan an simple Lexus Sucks :P