It Is A MAD MAD MAD World In Luxury Sales. Lexus DOWN 17.1% And Everyone Else UP?

As good as Lexus cars are the whole line is stale (save LF-A).

Bite your tongue!!!

Luxury cars are for wussies.

People are finally starting to wise up to the staleness known as Lexus.

over 250,000 Lexus IS coming off lease in next couple of months in the US. Resale value is about to plummet.

over 250k IS's coming off lease in the next couple of months? You're being sarcastic, right? I'm not even sure Lexus has sold 250k IS's in total since the car came out, and whether they have or not there won't be over 250k of them coming back off lease in the next couple months. There won't be 250k Lexuses total.

Low day supply of cars for Jan because of big December. More cars on the way from Japan. It's a long race boys....Lexus does need some new products. The CT200h won't be enough and the new GS ES & IS won't be until 2012. I say to LEXUS get the INCENTIVES READY.......

amazing job by bmw and audi--both driven by GREAT new products and top notch design. mercedes not as much--but people will always go for the 3-pointed star.

even people loyal to a brand will go elsewhere when the products get tired. lexus needs some life put into their cars.

in the meantime, they need to fire up the marketing and incentives machine even more to move those boring cars!

"amazing job by bmw and audi--both driven by GREAT new products and top notch design. mercedes not as much--but people will always go for the 3-pointed star."


People go for Audi and BMW just as much as they go for Mercedes. Big deal. And the new Mercedes products are also impressive. My parents just bought a 2010 E350 CGI and it's an amazing car. I fail to see what your problem is with the new MB models. As if most BMW or Audi owners take their car unto a track...

sports: what are you talking about?

wimmer:

bmw has come out with a hugely successful new 5-series, X5, X3, new versions of the 335 to name a few.

audi has the been minting money with the stunning A5/S5. and the new A8 is gorgeous.

mercedes makes lovely cars. but there's been less striking design and innovation coming out of the firm lately. mostly refreshes.

People are realizing that Infiniti, BMW, and Audi are better! Not that difficult to understand!

Hyundai has stolen the Lexus thunder and will continue to do so.....

Toyota has neglected all three lines of there cars for far to long, i suspect they are working on something else but what?

Lexus' problem is a combination of Hyundai and the hopeless GS. How long are their product lifecycles now? Seems like this GS has been around for a decade, and the LS, ES and IS are all midway or further through their cycles.

Quality and innovation (throw in some questionable good looks) still sell!

Last redesigns: GS 2007 due for a new model for 2012 model year.
ES 2007 due for a new model for 2012 model year.
LS 2006 or 2007. due for a redesign for 2012 or 2013
IS 2006? due for a new model for 2012 or 2013.

All the cars are pretty much at the end of the road. The sales decrease is probably mostly due to the age/staleness of the products. By later this year and into next year all of their car's will be redesigned boosting sales again.

Also, they need a "affordable" halo sports car to replace the previous dud, SC430.

Yet they still took the sales crown for 11 straight years despite their "stale" lineup. Lets see what happens by the end of the year.

Sales, pretty much guaranteed, should surge way forward as new ES, GS, IS, & LS comes out.

Despite being best selling in the US, as I said in a later post, they should do a better job at mid cycle refreshes. Take a hint from BMW. That and they should always be bringing out new unique trim levels etc. after the first 2 years on the market. ie. sports packages, luxury packages etc. Much like BMW brings out different variations of the M3, or Cadillac with their recent CTS-V black diamond edition.

Lexus GS - 2006

Other problem is most of their car products received really no major midcycle changes. The ES350 kept the same engine, power etc. Same with LS, the GS only received a revised engine for the V6. the IS has stayed the same.

The BMW formula always works best. Introduce a new product with the same engine as the year before, year 2-3 throw in a new engine, and maybe add a coupe or wagon model, add a new trim level or some new options, year 3-4, give the car a nip/tuck. And voila, get pretty steady sales.

I think Lexus is channeling Oldsmobile

"Those who refuse to accept the past are condemned to relive it." The Lexis marque is much like Cadillac was in earlier generations. Cadillac once was the bechmark against which all automobiles were measured. But, that was when my long gone grandparents were consumers. Problem was that Cadillac fell asleep at the switch as their demographic got older and older. Then, consumers awakened and realized that Caddy was simply a more expensive Chevy that was geared to their grandparents Lexis has alwaays been a very capable vehicle, much like the Toyota with which it shares its DNA. But, seriously, do you want to spend a premium to drive an equally stodgy Toyota when there are so many more attractive options? Funny how this report comes out a day after Autospies features the emergence of Hyundai as a major player.

Lexus is garbage. With fans that haven't got a clue about cars.