mpatel1080

I would not be so quick to dismiss Lexus. These guys have been building the best quality cars in the world since the inception of the brand, that is a fact that has been backed up by numerous organizations that conduct automobile reliability studies. The problem has been boring looking/driving cars, which it looks like they are starting to change.

Taktix1

agreed. I think we can also all agree that if the new GS is anything like the magazines have been saying, it will only make Audi better. When there's better competition, we all benefit.

Austin A6 3.2

I agree that Lexus should not be dismissed, but as an interesting data point, Lexus sells almost no cars in Europe (Lexus 27,468 vehicles sold, Audi = 681,045; BMW = 642,173; Mercedes-Benz = 806,256; Jaguar = 85,725). They are a US/Japanese brand, and have no recognition as a luxury brand in Europe. The top seller in Europe is the CT 200h, a small (A3) sized hybrid.

Based on http://www.acea.be/news/news_detail/..._manufacturer/

To me personally, Lexi feel artificial - they are Toyota's (successful) attempt to build a luxury car. I agree that they are very reliable, but they are also very unexciting, appliance like and they lack a certain "organic" feel. Jaguar has a lot of that in my opinion, as does Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi.

In the end, people have their own reasons why they purchase cars, and I think that car enthusiasts are generally more likely to purchase European luxury cars, and that people who just want to drive get a Japanese brand luxury car.

The Japanese will help keep the Germans on their toes, keep prices more reasonable and make owning a luxury car a better experience for us - the customers.

I should go and take a look at the GS interior (the exterior is not my thing, looks too much "Transformers" to me) sometime. I won't ever buy one, but since so many have complimented the GS interior, I should go check it out.

The G Man

Lexus sold in Japan are Toyota becuase they lack the dealer experience. Part of the Lexus name brand mean top notch customer service. Like it or hate it, Lexus is here to stay in the US.

mpatel1080

You are right that most Lexus models are rebadged toyotas, however these are high end toyotas sold in Japan. Comparing the high end of Toyota to a corolla would be like saying the Phaeton and Touareg are junk because the Jetta is a cheap car. I would assume part of the reason for The creation of Lexus was for Toyota to sell high end vehicles to people "who won't pay 50k for a Toyota". It seems that americans are more brand conscious than other nationalities when itncomes to cars, this would explain why the Phaeton and Touareg do pretty poorly here as well.

The G Man

Its the same reason why the Hyundai Genesis is not selling as well as it should. The American luxury car buyers want the whole package, a nice car and the dealership experience. Thats is the main reason why the Lexus division was created, to seperate itself from Toyota.

manishaudi

It should be noted that Toyota launched the Lexus brand in Japan starting in July 2005. After this they stopped selling the previous Toyota variants.

http://en.wikipedia.org/wiki/Lexus#2...reorganization

dcmetro

While I like german cars much better than others and find Lexus cars a bit "bland/oldy" for my taste, I still would not call them Toyota. Just like Audi cannot be called a VW. It's funny to see some strong opinions here.

The G Man

Most Lexus are bland because that is their design intention, it is a sensible and reliable luxury car. If you test drive the new GS350 or the IS-F, you will notice their design intentions are different. It really depends on what one's priority is in a car.