Lexus Says They Don't Care If They Win, Place, Or Show In US Sales

"Lexus Says They Don't Care If They Win, Place, Or Show In US Sales"

Sounds like a "winning" attitude!!

nice competetive spirit! Well, its also easy to sell vehicle that you just take a toyota badge and put a lexus badge on it and call it affordable luxury. The luxury car business goes in waves. MB used to be king, the Lexus got hot, now people like Audis because of rope lights. just drive what you like, not what other people think you should drive and what is trendy.

aha It was inevitable with the whole earthquake. The title here and in Carscoop makes it sound like Lexus couldn't care less. The way Mr. Templin's words should be inferred is the usual: quality is of utmost importance!

the earthquake is ONE of many problems at lexus. and the earthquake only affected sales in may. prior to may....

* reputation has been damaged by declining quality and lots of recalls
* lexus hasn't introduced any great new product in years--and most of the cars are too far into their lifecycle
* the competition has been produced incredible new product at a rate that lexus can't even approach
* 'value' luxury shoppers are far more affected by the weak economy

to name just a few MAJOR problems.

Should release the new GS and ES soon(Camry 2012 launch is confirmed before the year end so ES isn't too far). That would help sales.

only if the new products are a radical improvement over the current. not holding my breath.

silly. they already did that with the ES, RX, GX, LX, etc. doesn't seem to be a winning strategy.

Your point makes no sense. Why are Audi and BMW chasing sales because they introduce entry level premium vehicles? Positive review after review plus many automotive awards prove that the A1, 1-Series, and the Mini are anything but "cheap." Plus BMW is introducing four new small vehicles. Also, these vehicles are not that inexpensive once you option them out. Just look at the price of any Mini, A1, A3, or 1-Series. These vehicles allow more people to buy into the brands with the strategy that as these buyers become more well established in life they will move up to the more expensive lines of these marquees. Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz are not "niche" brands, they are complete luxury automobile producers. Whether you buy an A1 or an A8, or a 1-Series or 7-Series, the philosophy is you are buying the brand regardless. Plus these vehicles are luxurious with many features, so it is not like going down market. You get luxury, practicallity, and efficiency. If you are commuting long distances, an A8 or 7-Series are not practical. This way you can have the brand plus a daily driver without exhuberant expense. Audi and BMW have to meet ever more stringent environmental standards and continue to expand their client base. Otherwise you just become like Jaguar and irrelevent.

Well, that's a lie. Businesses are always concerned about making a profit, which means they will always be concerned about sales. It's nice to see them take a bigger focus on adding more soul to their cars than just making more vanilla vehicles that appeal to the masses though.

The question is do they really mean it. Frankly it would be good if they do. Lexus like the rest of Toyota should stop pushing for being number 1 in sales. Rather they should just think along the lines of what they did 15 to 20 years ago. That is putting out the best quality product out there on the market and forget about cutting corners in production to make a car cheaper to build. Example- I'm on my second
Toyota Rav 4. The 1st one bought in 1997 had a glass moon roof. My 2001 has a plastic moonrooof. Also the 1st Rav 4 had a special Differential Lock button for bad road conditions. The 2001 does not. My 97 had a better quality rear glass mirror. My 2001 has a cheaper mount so it pops off too easily.This is one example of what led Toyota down the wrong path in their quest to be #1. Frankly being #1 is not worth it if you end up having recall after recall,class action lawsuits and then ambulance chasers that try to feed in on media frenzy.

Rash of new sedans coming starting next year........