Hyundai also makes cargo ships and a lot of other mega-priced stuff and their most expensive car is under $100k. Chaebols and keiretsus are weird like that.
Cargo ships are capital expenditures in the pursuit of some economic endeavour. Positioning yachts and private jets alongside luxury cars is a much different thing than the giant industrial conglomerate arm of companies like Samsung or Hyundai.
Just seems to me that there is a clear gap in the lineup. I can't see how you sell a multimillion dollar yacht, when the likelihood that the person who can afford to buy it probably would drive up to it in a Lexus is lower than the chances they show up in a Rolls or something like that.
If i have to go to other companies to try and find vehicles "on my level" if i'm a yacht or jet buyer, and you're positioning yourself as some luxury automaker as well, I can't see how that's a win for TMC and Lexus.
This just makes me think that the top-end Lexus needs to be derived from something like the Century, and they need a high-end luxury-focused SUV (LX doesn't really compete in that way) as well (where is the LF1?).
Just seems unfocused.
We hear about how the media has to get behind another LFA before it's considered.
We hear about how the LC convertible took priority over the LCF, as though it's impossible for a company as big as TMC to do both.
We haven't heard
anything exciting/meaningful about the next gen IS.
The latest GX and LX models are behind the times in terms of features, even compared to the RX, which is insane to think about.
The ES has stepped on the LS' toes this generation, weakening the value proposition, while having its own shortcomings in Lexus wheelhouse areas like audio quality.
We haven't heard
anything exciting/meaningful about the future of the GS as the current model is left to age on lots and on the street as other automakers are trying out new things and shaking up their lineups.
The company is continuing to focus on going down range (understandably), but they need to offset the UXs and NXs of the world with real luxury products to keep the image.
This may come off a bit harsh, but that's only because I have high expectations for the brand given my history and experience with Lexus.
I really believe in the company, but they need to step it up. We live in a world of 24 hour news cycles and instant gratification.
You cannot go this long without meaningful information and updates for your models. How long are we supposed to stay in the dark about our options?
I am probably going to buy another car in the next year or two, and i've got a full F model now, but i'm having a hard time being motivated to wait another 6 months here or there to see what Lexus offers vs just shopping the competition.
I just don't get it. Are they relying entirely on people shopping Lexus out of habit? I don't think anyone here is expecting them to shove out brand new exciting models every 3 years, but the complete lack of anything to look forward to is kind of insane.
Do we have any company/industry insiders here? Without going into material nonpublic information, what's the deal? Is it just a cultural thing? Do they view it internally as a risk to the brand? Are Lexus employees/engineers/designers/etc. feeling like they like the direction/pace/market position of the brand?