Would Lexus Be Better Off If It Were Independent From Toyota?

BS. AUDI's is independent from VW like Lexus is from Toyota.

The one I wish independent from mother company is INFINITI. You can certainly tell that from product positioning.

Look, I understand this overwhelming need you have to express yourself regardless of how poorly-qualified your opinion is, but try reading the article to understand what the author meant by "independent" and then offer your counterpoint with your own definition of why Lexus is equally independent. This was not an article about product differentiation or platform are sharing, it was about management and how free it is to follow the parent company's direction (neither one being completely free, of course).

"Audi is an independent company with its own board. As part of Volkswagen’s Markentrennung (brand separation,) Audi has separate engineering, separate marketing, separate manufacturing, separate after sales, separate everything, down to a separate Audi bank. Audi reports to a small board at the Volkswagen Group, chaired by a former Audianer, Martin Winterkorn."

"platform sharing" not "platform are sharing"

Since they are one in the same, sharing everything from components to assembly factories, the question is moot (in other words, what a stupid question).

No car company subdivision ever splits from it's parent company, no matter what they will always share the technology.

As for Audi/VW for God's sake they share engines/transmission/chases/electrical everything!!! So if by separation you mean by management and all that, well who pays the damn about that when the cars in both divisions share platforms.

The same goes for Lexus and Toyota.

I do like the thought of Lexus not leaving Japan, at least they'll continue building their top of line product lines there, it's sad that Infiniti will be completely taken out of Japan, expect to see reduction inquality/reliability of all of Infiniti's product lines.

seems like a question not a single one of us would truly have any useful insight on... UNLESS, anyone commenting has run a major corporation and a sibling/umbrella corporation with it.

Toyota created Lexus in the vein of Mercedes. Infiniti is targeted at BMW.

When Toyota launched the Lexus brand in the US, the "Lexus LS400" was being sold in other countries as a "Toyota Lexus". Then came the RX300 in the US which was being sold in other countries as the "Toyota Harrier". Lexus is not a company, it is a brand of the Toyota motor company. Audi is a company wholly owned by Volkswagen AG and its shares are traded on the German stock exchange separately from Volkswagen AG.

How is Audi both wholly owned but has shares publicly traded??? And isn't VW partially owned by the provincial govenment of Saxony?

My point is that one cannot just compare the bizarre corporate structures of two distinct countries and pass judgment. Hell, in the US a corporation is legally a person.

Audi is to VW as Lexus is to Toyota. We bloggers don't sit on the corporate boards, so trying to dissect the minutiae of their organizational structures is lame and futile. Should they have more autonomy or less? Who are we to judge?

BTW, the presumably completely merged Toy/Lex gave us the original LS400 and SC400. Should Lexus have been a distinct entity then?

Why? They are successful as is.

In America it would not help, but selling to the rest of the world it would.

They could not do it. Lexus prices are based on economies of scale and the purchasing power of Toyota. For example, how Sam's Club benefits from parent Walmart. Lexus would not survive. The RX350 for $36,000 would cost more to make and sell.

Yes.

NO