Toyota Making Inroads Into Lucrative German Market

Any specific numbers on the demands for hybrids?

Hybrids...as much as toyota can produce it.

JUGNU

It looks like the target was 20,000 for this year for all of Europe. Germany from my understanding would be about half of that, so 10,000. Rupert probably has a inside track on that one.

not really, i never have figures, just a european opinion.
sorry to dissapoint plano :(
germany does have a pop of 80 million, but not half all europe.
plano, from the article "The annual target of 140,000 registrations, including 5,100 Lexus vehicles, is within reach"
140000 toyota/lexus in germany alone. 11000 sold in august.
don't know about rest of europe.

Jan - Jun 2006: 433,000 Toyota vehicles & 11,000 Lexus vehicles were sold across Europe.

June 2006: Toyota - 83,700 units, Lexus: 3,800 units.

Numbers for July & August will be out in next days.

Source: www.acea.be

For comparison:

Audi: 57,800 in June; 331,600 Jan - Jun
MB: 67,300 in June; 375,300 Jan - jun
BMW (w/o MIni): 65,600 in June; 357,700 Jan - June

Are those A3 1.6 audi's? Or 116's BMW's?
Or 318's? Or A4 with 110hp? Ones without CD player and with roll up windows?

Even when lexus does get significant share of Euro market, it will sell 10x less than rivals because it is only selling luxury cars.

Audi, MB and BMW sell cars that compete with Corolla price wise, and they make most significant part of their sales in Europe.

They have to sell cheap cars to survive, but Lexus doesnt - it has Toyota to do that. And it is doing that really well.

Toyota sold more than million cars in Europe last year, which was 2 years earlier than planned...

I think that if Toyota becomes popular in Europe, people will upgrade to Lexus, thus taking over the German cars' international reputation.

According to threatened German fans, they aren't popular enough.

huu76,

Did it ever occur to you that is a CAR site, not a social/environmentalist site?

A V12 diesel is more desirable than V6 with a mobility scooter engine attatched.

The world has come to this. We want cars to be less like cars.

"If you're opting for a V12, why even bother with a diesel?"

Because you can.

spwolf: "Are those A3 1.6 audi's? Or 116's BMW's?
Or 318's? Or A4 with 110hp? Ones without CD player and with roll up windows?

Even when lexus does get significant share of Euro market, it will sell 10x less than rivals because it is only selling luxury cars.

Audi, MB and BMW sell cars that compete with Corolla price wise, and they make most significant part of their sales in Europe.

They have to sell cheap cars to survive, but Lexus doesnt - it has Toyota to do that. And it is doing that really well.

Toyota sold more than million cars in Europe last year, which was 2 years earlier than planned..."


logically, an argument could be made to not separate figures for lexus and toyota. along with MB and GM, Toyota sells a full line of vehicles from buses and trucks to limosines to econoboxes. (many toyota models are sold ONLY in japan. many mercedes models are NOT sold only in the u.s.)

until recently, unlike toyota and gm, mercedes sold ALL their vehicles sold just under the MB nameplate. they had no equivalent of Hino trucks and Lexus, or GMC truck and coach, Cadillac, Buick, Chevy, etc. they now DO have Maybach as an additional marque. BMW is even more limited (unless you include Rolls-Royce and Mini).

so if you counted ALL mb models, ALL bmw models, and ALL audi models; including the toyota equivalent A and B segment cars, then there is no reason to NOT count lexus and toyota together for sales comparisons.

by which accounting, toyota has ALREADY beat the germans.

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spwolf


Are those A3 1.6 audi's? Or 116's BMW's?
Or 318's? Or A4 with 110hp? Ones without CD player and with roll up windows?

Even when lexus does get significant share of Euro market, it will sell 10x less than rivals because it is only selling luxury cars.

Audi, MB and BMW sell cars that compete with Corolla price wise, and they make most significant part of their sales in Europe.

They have to sell cheap cars to survive, but Lexus doesnt - it has Toyota to do that. And it is doing that really well.

Toyota sold more than million cars in Europe last year, which was 2 years earlier than planned...
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1. It actually the diesel version like the 320D witch are the most sold.

2. Prices for Audi/BMW/Merc. are above Corolla levels.

3. And Lexus too cuts down costs.
- the best seller by far in Europe is the IS 220D.
- it has the engine from the Corolla and is striped of the safety package found on the IS 250.
- witch is a shame since in a safety conscious Europe
this is bad, since could have gained costumers.
- and ofcourse the Corrola engine has higher emission
than that of the bimmer's = taxes + lost costumers.
- so in conclusion Lexus also cuts costs and pays a price for this.

4. Audi/BMW/MB do sell cheaper cars, but they also sell alot more of the expensive cars too.
In fact some Lexus models are even outsold by considerably more expensive exotics like from Ferrari/ Lambo/ Maserati/ Aston Martin.

5. Toyota sold last year 818.101 units acording to ACEA. No exactly the million you were hoping for.
As for Lexus, well of its models will have fight in sales with the likes of Ferrari.

Will:
"I agree, it's going to be a hard tightrope for Lexus to walk. They lack the "mass-market" vehicles that the European luxury brands offer. There's no Lexus equivalent to the 1-Series, or the A-,B-Classes. Toyota is there for that. And rebadging lower-end Toyota products as Lexus products just wont fly!"


there is no NEED for that.

toyota is building a reputation on its own merits. in reliability, fit and finish, state-of-the-art engineering, repair records, etc., it is at the top of the class or near it. the euro brands can just counter with nicer interiors, and costlier (but not more reliable) components. oh yeah, and "german engineering" and road feel.

some german magazine polled readers on which brands were most DESIRED. as expected, the german biggies were ranked near the top. but on a poll on which best met or exceeded EXPECTATIONS, they flopped. (some ranking as low as 20.)

on the latter, toyota, honda and suzuki (?!) ranked within the top 5. again, these were GERMAN consumers.

lexusis350:
"I think that if Toyota becomes popular in Europe, people will upgrade to Lexus, thus taking over the German cars' international reputation."



and NOT having any A and B segment cars, lexus will actually be MORE exclusive and prestigious.

{btw, did you mean 'overtaking' rather than 'taking over?')

The A and B-Classes are selling like hotcakes in Europe. An A or B-Class or a 1-Series is a premium vehicle in Europe. Just because Lexus doesn't offer a competitor to them won't make them more prestigeous. Prestige is earned over time. The German brands have a lot of prestige, even in their home market. Lexus is the newcomer and if you look at the situation, they really don't offer anything Europeans want. The IS220d was a good start, but Lexus was cost-cutting with this car:

-No A/T option
-1/3 the safety package of the IS250 (big mistake)

I don't know what they were thinking, but it wasn't logical. Why would you remove 2/3s of the safety features from the IS220d? Why?

And whoever said that Audi, BMW and MB offers cars that compete with Corolla's must be on crack. Even a base model 3-series costs more than a Corolla.

Lexus is for more then 10 years better then Mercedes, Mercedes is beautiful to see and drive also but they miss quality and class.

Also Acura is a great car maker better luxury cars then Bmw, in Europe we think only that German carmakers are original good making cars but we know better here in Europe.

Lexus is for more then 10 years better then Mercedes, Mercedes is beautiful to see and drive also but they miss quality and class.
-------------------------------------

Mercedes has class. They've always had it and they still do. Quality took a dive, but it seems to be coming back.

ApexAlex-
I never even thought of Lexus being more prestigious because it doesn't have lower class vehicles. Thanks for pointing that out, really. And I did mean overtake, not take over.

Will,

The IS220d is a far slower car than the other variants.
==========================================

So your logic is, because it's slower, it's safer???


Lexus has finally offered a true "entry-level" sports sedan with a smaller DIESEL engine, and credit still is not given.
================================================

Credit is given, Will, but the car lacks things the competiton offers: A/T, comprehensive safety package, particulate filters etc.

huu76,

Have you ever heard of passive safety? The ability to avoid an accident due to handling/grip/control?

Does a heavy, truck-based Yukon have that? You attempt a high-speed avoidance maneuver in a Yukon and you will end up on your roof.

And you think a big SUV is safer because it is bigger? What a stereotype that is! Most SUV's do very poorly in crash tests because they do not have a monocoque or 'cocoon' safety structure like your late-model sedan would have. The Yukon is made by bolting a relatively unsafe shell onto a truck chassis. In a crash, either the Yukon driver would be crushed by the dashboard collapsing on his chest, or the SUV structure would barely crumple at all, shifting all the crash forces onto the driver.

Modern sedans use advanced safety structures which absorb the impact down the length of the car, isolating the driver and passengers from sudden forces being exerted onto their bodies.

Hmmmm, I wonder how your repetitive T-boning exercise relates to the real world? What a ridiculous scenario.

Why don't you join us in the 21st century.

A Crown Victoria would kill you in a crash.

Give that dinosaur to EuroNCAP.