Branding

Huge fan of this Lexus commercial from the Middle East:

Reminds me of the classic LS launch commercial—though obviously for a different part of the world. Love this type of lifestyle commercials when they’re done right.

Not content just to sit at the Los Angeles Auto Show last month, the Lexus LF-Ch took part in a fashion photoshoot at the Hollywood & Highland Center, resulting in some rather racy images—first off, here’s a quick video behind the scenes, which has the bonus of showing the LF-Ch in motion:

The finished photos are entirely work-safe, but just in case, I’ve placed them after the jump.

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When Lexus’ L-Finesse design language debuted in 2005, it also marked the first year of the the company’s involvement with the annual Milan Design Week in Italy—and now, Lexus Magazine has posted a retrospective of the various exhibits over the last five years.

It was at the Milan Design Week last year that the transparent LFA debuted, and 2008 had a matte black LF-Xh concept:

This year’s Milan Design Week takes place in April, and it will be interesting to see just what Lexus comes up with for 2010—smart money would be on something involving the LF-Ch, though it could be anything from the LFA again to the HS.

Be sure to check out Lexus Magazine for a full recap of the past five years.

Lexus USA General Manager Mark Templin recently spoke with Ward’s Auto on a number of different subjects, including the LFA’s “value pricing” and a possible X3 competitor.

I recommend reading the whole article, but here are some choice quotes:

On Lexus LFA Pricing

“If you think of the other carbon-fiber supercars, Enzo Ferraris and Porsche Carrera GTs, you’re talking cars that are at least $450,000 to $1 million,” Mark Templin, Lexus’ U.S. sales chief says, tells Ward’s here. “So we consider (the LFA) to be a pretty good value proposition.”

I’m glad to see Templin framing the Lexus LFA pricing—it’s difficult to imagine the cost of putting out a supercar from scratch, and not just in dollars, but also in the time that Toyota’s top people put in. It’s hard to talk about the LFA as though it’s the first generation LS 400 taking on established and overpriced players, but the sentiment is there.

On the Lexus Brand Values

“We don’t want to be something different than we’ve been for the last 20 years,” Templin says. “We still have a huge core group of people who love our products and what they provide. That’s a bigger market than the small niche of people who want the performance cars.”

Rather, he sees the LFA, and other low-volume models such as the IS-F sport sedan and new LS Sport grade, boosting the brand’s performance credentials.

Read: Expect performance variants of existing models to continue, meaning a GS-F & LS-F at the very least. Personally, I’m pulling for an HS-F.

On a X3 Competitor

As for a smaller CUV to compete with BMW’s X3 and Infiniti’s EX, he notes the volume of the entire segment doesn’t equal that of the Lexus RX midsize CUV.

“There is a trend that shows us eventually there will be a market for those smaller (CUVs),” Templin says. “(But) at what point do you enter the market: when it’s early and you can’t sell any volume or do you wait?”

I can’t picture any X3 competitor until the third generation RX is at least halfway through its lifecycle, or about three years away.

***

Also mentioned is Templin’s expectation that Lexus will end 2009 with approximately 210,000 vehicles sold, down from 260,087 in 2008, which will safely put Lexus at the top of US luxury vehicle sales this year.

The article on a whole is interesting reading, and answers some lingering questions. Highly recommended.

[Source: Ward’s Auto]

Loved this video of the transparent acrylic Lexus LFA created earlier this year for the Milan Design Week:

An extraordinary model, and a beautifully filmed video. Must-see.

(It was very hard to visualize the model by photos alone—I didn’t release there was an entire transparent engine sitting under the hood!)

(Thanks WoL!)

As time goes on, we’re going to find the process of selling the Lexus LFA will almost be as interesting as the car itself—case in point, the Toronto Star has published some background information for potential Canadian buyers:

For the first time in mainstream automotive memory, a car is being brought to market that drivers cannot buy outright. Initially, the LFA will only be available on a two-year lease.

There will be no lottery to select who gets the LFA. Toyota Canada will handpick the winners. It was suggested to Di Felice that that sounded a lot like a popularity contest likely to be won by rock stars and boldface names.

“No, I don’t see why if you’re, say, a dentist and you can afford a $375,000 car and you really have a passion for Lexus technology and Lexus engineering, you can’t end up in one of these cars,” [Director of external affairs, Sandy] Di Felice said. “I think what you’re asking me is are we going to bump people for somebody better, and the answer is ‘No’.”

I’ve also read that Lexus is more interested in locating people who will drive the car, as opposed to speculators and collectors.

And what if you’re selected by Lexus to purchase an LFA? Club Lexus member ViperVern received an invitation by mail to attend a special event in the USA:

[Source: Toronto Star & Club Lexus]