Lexus magic fails to capture Europeans
Cars which hit the spot in America barely noticeable in Europe, but the new IS sedan will turn heads
Lexus has conquered America, but is wary about engaging in a battle for sales in Europe.
Since starting from nothing in 1989, Lexus, owned by Toyota of Japan, has stormed its way close to the top of the sales charts, and is a player to reckon with in America.
In the first 10 months of 2005, Lexus sold just over 242,000 cars and trucks in the U.S., behind the market leader BMW of Germany's nearly 270,000, but better than DaimlerChrysler owned Mercedes' 175,000, and GM's Cadillac with nearly 198,000, according to figures from Britain's Automotive Industry Data (AID).
But here in Europe, Lexus sales barely register on the luxury car sales radar. For the first 10 months of 2005 in Europe, Mercedes led the way with 584,000 car and truck sales, BMW was second with 532,000, and VW's Audi was next with 521,000, AID data shows. Lexus racked up a barely visible 16,500. No, there's not a decimal point in the wrong place - only sixteen thousand, five hundred.
So Lexus must be gearing up to conquer this huge European market where its products, if available, will sell like hot cakes, right?
Maybe. The question is, will it be this year, next year, sometime or never?
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