Michael Gloss, the economic minister of Germany has recently talked in public about an inquiry of Toyota about the possibility of assembling Lexus models in Eastern Germany. Two reasons would justify such a decision:
- Lexus is not a major seller in Europe. This is slowly changing with the introduction of the IS 220d which is a wonderful diesel (400 lbft of torque from a 2.2 litre engine !), but the headquarters are not happy with the pace. Europeans tend to buy vehicles built in Europe (the Toyota Yaris, Avensis and Aygo are not only designed for Europe, but they are all built there and are pretty successful in their respective segments).
- Eastern Germany is extremely famous for its quality. Porsche builds the Cayenne, VW the Phaeton and Bentley the Continental Flying Spur in Eastern Germany, while BMW is assembling volume models there. One must also remember that this is the home of the world famous Lange & Söhne watch manufaktur, adding to the prestige of the region.
Germany, the largest national market of Europe in terms of volume would certainly be more interested in buying a luxury vehicle built by German workers. What a twist for German-phobics !
Anyone interested in building Hispano-Suiza vehicles in Estonia ? -:)
TF