New Toyota USA CEO Ted Ogawa had some thoughts on the Lexus brand in a new Automotive News interview:
Ogawa was working in the Lexus division when the 2010 unintended-acceleration crisis struck the company. He still has a fondness for Toyota’s luxury brand and wants to see it improve.
“I have no worries about the Toyota lineup, but in the case of Lexus, the [product] cadence is an issue,” Ogawa said. “So, for this year, the LC convertible is new. Profitwise, [dealers] may be OK, but in this sense, the Lexus dealer body wants to see more product sooner.”
Product launches have been far and few between for Lexus in the last couple years, and vehicle lineups are essentially frozen for the foreseeable future with COVID-19.
How are vehicle launches going to change in this new environment? Apple recently debuted a new iPad Pro with a press release instead of a big media event, but will the same technique work with a vehicle? Lexus may not have a choice.
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