Lexus: Too Japanese for the Japanese

I read an article about a Japanese Motor Company called the Lexus. Lexus was introduced by Toyota to aim at drivers who want luxury Cars. Toyota wanted to
sell luxury cars like other German motor companies (BMW and Audi). However,
from a recent research, most car buyers, even Japanese people prefer German cars
rather than Lexus as their choice in buying luxury cars. An example of a 46 year old doctor says that "Lexus makes excellent cars but if you ask me whether I'd buy one, the answer is no because is too Japanese for my tastes". The reason he chose foreign brands is that they have more individuality. For most Japanese car buyers, "foreign"
refers to "German". Lexus has been the top selling luxury nameplate in the U.S 19years ago. But they didn't sell cars until the year 2005. When they began selling cars in their homeland, it was too late to grab all the luxury car buyers because of the German brands dominating the high end. They are still having hard time competing the competition with the German brands. The main problem they had was the initial lineup. The company started only with three models: GS sports sedan, SC convertible and the IS sedan. All three had previously been available in Japan under the Toyota nameplate for about 20% less than the Lexus models. Also, the buzz Toyota created for Lexus have benefited the Germans. The rivals say they saw increased interest as customers visited foreign motor company’s showrooms to compare (such as BMW, Mercedes-Benz, Audi). From the research, it says 80% of early Lexus buyers were former Toyota driver and only 5% came from Mercedes or BMW. Some disadvantages for foreign companies are that the steering wheels are on the opposite side and the streets of Japan are very narrow. Still, few are giving up on Lexus in Japan. Lexus is still trying their best by launching the latest version LS sedan. They are also trying to create a brand image to rival Audi, BMW, and Mercedes.

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