Word: lexus
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William Stephenson: A brother can't drive a Lexus without pushing dope? Supposing he hit the Lotto number...
...their image as the caviar of automobile brands, Mercedes-Benz and Jaguar spent much of the past decade longing for a little meat-and-potatoes appeal. Slumping sales in the U.S. had execs worried, as did the rising popularity of Japanese newcomer Lexus. The haughty Germans and the aristocratic Brits realized that the wealthier baby-boomer set--now in a buying frenzy--was turned off by the companies' stuffy image and limited product line. "Our cars were admired but were perceived as an unattainable icon," concedes Joe Eberhardt, vice president of marketing for Mercedes-Benz North America. "Our problem...
...from the popularity of light trucks and SUVs, sales of which grew 8.2% last year. But in a market in which sales of traditional sedans are stalled, car buyers have lately been going for upscale vehicles at unprecedented levels. In 1998 Mercedes' sales rose 39.2%, Jaguar's increased 15.4%, Lexus' jumped 60.2% (partly due to the addition of the RX300 to its lineup), while Audi's and Porsche's rose 39% and 33%, respectively. Overall sales of luxury cars, roughly defined as anything selling for more than $30,000, accounted for 15.1% of the passenger cars sold...
...Grand Cherokee, which will cost about $250 less than the 1998 model because features like the CD player will no longer be extra. Chrysler hopes to overtake the Ford Explorer as the market leader. But moving up will be tough in the increasingly crowded SUV category. Newcomers include the Lexus RX300, which competes with the Cherokee on price but carries a luxury nameplate. (The Cherokee's wider track and improved power shifting make it more nimble than the RX300 in off-road driving.) Among other new SUV entrants: the Cadillac Escalade, a luxury version of the Chevrolet Tahoe...
...standard approach in economics is to assume that everyone's preference is independent-that I'm not affected by seeing you drive up in a Lexus," she explains. "That, to me, is a fundamental misunderstanding of what people are doing when they consume...