In order to boost slowing sales in China, Lexus will be introducing a 2.4L four-cylinder ES model:
From January to April, the sales of imported passenger cars in China increased 16% from a year earlier, with Mercedes-Benz, BMW, Audi and Lexus rising 1.5% together. But of the four luxury brands, Lexus saw its sales drop by a staggering 36%. This sales plunge is blamed on the higher sales tax on high-emission cars, as only over-3.0L Lexus models are sold in China.
With the ES 240 expected to go on sale some time in the second half of this year, Lexus is certainly acting fast to reverse the slump. Still, even with this smaller engine, the ES will retail for 380,000-500,000 yuan ($55,626-73,192 USD) due to the import car tax.
[Source: Gasgoo]
No discussion thread for this article yet.