That’s a no brainer. Lexus is not BMW or Mercedes-Benz. Lexus is relabled Camrys and Landcruisers and far to many people are caught up in Lexus advertizing hype and product placement to objectively evaluate them at the Volvo/Saab level that they are. Every middle income wanna-be housewife who can’t afford a proper German car is in a Lexus ES or RX. At least in my area anyway.

Another thing, why is it that everyones mad at GM for platform engineering, but when Toyota does it then its all okay. For example, the Lexus ES is a Camry, the RX is a Camry on stilts, the LX is a Landcruiser. The BMW 3 or 5 series for example is not a relabled anything. Nor is the Mercedes C or E class. And for people who want to create the illusion that theres some great quality difference between cars, Buick scored very close to Lexus, and beat Toyota labled cars in that survey that was out last month.

How are they doing, compared to sales of Lexuses-that-were-sold-as-Toyotas-before-they-rolled-out-the-Lexus-brand?

The article makes it sound like Toyota is selling less luxury cars than it was before, but I’d like to know for sure.

There is no doubt that Toyota (and Audi, for that matter) seem to “get away with” using luxury models on more pedestrian platforms. The point that BMW, Mercedes, etc don’t do this is what makes them more special as far as I’m concerned.

That said, when Lexus and Audi do use platforms, they do differentiate well. Exteriors, interiors, features, etc are massively different from their more pedestrian models, something the domestics never traditionally did (and still don’t… A Zephyr is far more easily traced to a Fusion in switchgear, mechanics, and overall profile than an ES is to a Camry or an A4 is to a Jetta).

Lexus may not be selling in Japan but they certainly sell in the US. When it comes to comfort, quiet and reliability, they are hard to beat. And Lexus is certainly not BMW or Mercedes-Benz as far as time in the shop. I drive a first year (1990) Lexus LS400 with 143,000 miles that is still comparable to many new cars on the road today as far as a quiet cabin and condition of the vehicle. Yes, US cars are way up in quality but the frequency of repair remains an issue with every one of them except the Chrysler PT Cruiser. It is only a matter of time (a short time) that Toyota will be viewing GM in their rearview mirror in terms of carmaker with most sales.

As far as I understand BMW 1 series are build off the 3’s platform, so is the X3. The X5s are similarily build off the 5 series. (the 5 series and X5, less similar than 3 and 1 series). Either way, I believe everyone does platform sharing one form or another.
As for Lexus sales in Japan, it’s not a big surprise. Japanese markets are similar to Hong Kong’s (in general)in that people buy a BMW or Mercedes for the brand, just like Gucci, LV, or Rolls Royce. More because of “bling” than anything else. IMHO.

And with the way that the new ES looks, those sales will continue to drop.

I don’t understand why they thought that Lexus would explode in Japan. Everyone here knows this, but every Lexus sold in the U.S. has been a Toyota over there. They swap the badge and think people will be any more excited at getting a Lexus GS than they were at getting a Toyota Aristo? I guess that goes along with Carlos’ comment.

I don’t understand how Lexus was “launched” in Japan. It doesn’t make sense to me.

The New ES doesn’t look bad, and the sales in the US haven’t been dropping all that much…it is still the #5 best-selling luxury vehicle in America, and looks to sell 70,000 in the new model first year, contributing significantly to Lexus being #1 in the US in terms of sales.

In Japan, I agree there are quite a few challenges. One thing being that your average Japanese dealership supposedly has customer service standards that would beat your average BMW or Mercedes dealership here in the US. What Lexus offers in Japan does not have as high a ’service improvement’ difference than it does in the US.

That’s silly Dan, you expect a dealer service department to take care of you. They charge more than 3rd party repair shops, and they have a vested interest in taking care of you because they want to sell you a new car again. You sound like a car salesman. When people buy a car, the dealer service does not factor into the equation at all. When you see a nice car that you like on the road, you never think “boy I bet he gets great dealer service”. You think, “boy that’s a nice ride, I’m gonna impress everybody with that”. I expect the car to be reliable, I expect the dealer to employ competent knowledgeable service people that arent gonna steal my change out of the ashtray, and there’s no way I’d ever buy a car as hideously ugly and boring as the new Lexus ES. That’s a golfing grandpa ride if there ever was one.

TOP OF THE LINE TOYOTAS WITH AN L BADGE, FINALLY THIER OWN COUNTRY IS FIGURING IT OUT…

That’s like not dating girls at your high school…the other girls are just different.