Word: toyotas
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...Toyota's fast trip to the top came courtesy of just two models: the $38,000 LS400, a four-door sedan powered by the first Japanese V-8 engine to hit the U.S. market; and the $21,300 ES250, a smaller, six-cylinder sedan. The bulk of sales have come from the LS400, a model that Car and Driver magazine rated as better than both the $63,000 Mercedes 420SEL and the $55,000 BMW 735i in terms of ride, handling and performance. Up against the industry's pedigreed names, Lexus has created virtually instant brand loyalty, a feat unprecedented...
...biggest surprises for Ford and General Motors was that 35% of Lexus buyers traded in a luxury American car to make their new purchase, something no one, not even Toyota, expected to happen so quickly. While sales of Lincolns and Cadillacs have been strong this year, the quick loyalty switch is worrisome news. "It's already a nightmare for European and American luxury carmakers," says John McElroy, editor in chief of the Detroit trade publication Automotive Industries. "Right out of the box, Lexus made a car that was more technologically advanced than anything it competes with...
...next marketplace ripe for Japan's "luxmobiles" is Europe. The Lexus went on sale in Switzerland and Britain earlier this year, and in 1991 will hit Germany, France, Italy, the Netherlands and Sweden. In an interview early this year, BMW chairman Eberhard von Kuenheim accused Toyota of "dumping" Lexus in the U.S. market at below-market prices, and declared, "Europe is not willing to destroy its own industry" by giving Japan free access. Toyota calls that charge "groundless and meaningless," but spokesman Yoshiharu Tateishi says, "We are fully aware of the trade friction, and our approach will be modest...
...Japanese, the venture into luxury cars is a long-term experiment that will determine the industry's direction in the 1990s. Lexus' success is the product of a lengthy exercise in product development, even by Japanese standards. Toyota spent six years and more than $1 billion developing the auto, and built 450 prototypes -- three times the usual number -- to get the product right. The firm spent two years just deciding on the type of leather interior to use, and top management pondered for three years before approving the car's styling...
...question that Toyota management might be pondering now is whether, with prices up at the pump because of the gulf crisis and consumers about to give more thought to automobile fuel efficiency, Lexus' gas-hungry V-8 (18 m.p.g. in the city, 23 on the highway) may soon prove a sales liability. So far, that has not been a problem, and Lexus meanwhile is preparing yet another challenge to the world's luxury carmakers: a $30,000 luxury coupe that will roll into dealerships next spring to compete with the Acura Legend, Cadillac Eldorado coupe and Lincoln Mark...