Toyota rolled out the marque to fend off European competitors in Japan. But so far the results have been less than impressive
With net profits of $10 billion, double-digit growth in the U.S., and GM's (GM) spot as the world's biggest automaker in sight, Toyota Motor (TM) President Katsuaki Watanabe has had little to complain about since succeeding Fujio Cho as the head of the Japanese automaker last June. Yet for all the great strides being taken by Toyota, Watanabe must be at least a little disheartened by the performance of the upmarket Lexus brand in Japan.
The slow start in Japan stands in contrast to the U.S., where Lexus has been the best-selling luxury car brand for the last six years. In 2005, Toyota sold 302,895 Lexus vehicles in the U.S. This is up 5.8% vs. a year earlier. Moreover, it's the first time a luxury brand had sold 300,000 units since Cadillac achieved that feat in the mid-1980s.
Yet at home in Japan, imports of German rivals Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz continue to perform well. Together, the three German brands sold more than 106,000 cars in Japan in 2005, a 10% increase, while Japan's overall auto market contracted by 0.9%.
Full article here