Lexus Europe Sales Up 29% in the First Half of 2015

[mmcartalk]

Growth would have been much higher if Russia did not collapse... Russia is best market for Lexus.

Agree that Russia is a good potential market, but China, with its enormous population, might potentially be even better, though China also places a tariff on vehicles made in Japan. Many Lexus products, though, are still built there.

 

[mikeavelli]

Europe continues to question diesels...I think its a dying fuel....Lexus hybrid strategy in the long run might just work there...

 

[mmcartalk]

Europe continues to question diesels...I think its a dying fuel....Lexus hybrid strategy in the long run might just work there...

I just don't understand why diesels, despite their good mileage, get tax breaks for being "Alternate Fuel" vehicles, when their fuel comes from the same petroleum sources as gasoline. It doesn't make sense to me....never did.

With natural gas, propane, full-electric, hydrogen fuel-cell, solar-batteries, etc....the "Alternate Fuel" description probably makes more sense, since those sources don't come from petroleum, though natural gas, like petroleum, is also a non-renewable fossil fuel.

 

[spwolf]

Agree that Russia is a good potential market, but China, with its enormous population, might potentially be even better, though China also places a tariff on vehicles made in Japan. Many Lexus products, though, are still built there.

it is not just potential market, it is largest Lexus Europe market. So war and its effects on economy are certainly hurting Lexus sales, even if they are actually up 2% while Toyota is down over 30% (similar to industry average in Russia).

So when it comes to Lexus Europe, biggest possible future sales increase would be Russia where they have decent position and where new 2.0t lineup will score nicely... Rest of the Europe does not care about 2.0t (gasoline) engines so growth would come from new models like RX and new CT based models.

As to the China, no Lexus is made in China nor there are any official plans to make them in China... so Lexus Chinese sales are likely around 70k-80k these days (year).

 

[spwolf]

Europe continues to question diesels...I think its a dying fuel....Lexus hybrid strategy in the long run might just work there...

Europe does not question diesels... few articles do... but people do not and are buying them.

Lexus and Toyota are experiencing hybrid growth in Europe simply because they are good engines, but there is no large shift to hybrids at all.

 

[mmcartalk]

it is not just potential market, it is largest Lexus Europe market.

OK, I'll agree, if you consider Russia part of Europe. And there are currently some sanctions against the Russians over the Ukraine/Crimea issues......I'm not sure if that includes the shipping of new cars from other countries into Russia or not.

As to the China, no Lexus is made in China nor there are any official plans to make them in China... so Lexus Chinese sales are likely around 70k-80k these days (year).

Even though they are not built there, Lexus does seem to making at least some commitment to the country...they showed off the new ES at at Shanghai. The biggest current obstacle to Lexus in China, though, is probably Buick...the Chinese just love Buicks, they are enormously popular there, and several upmarket Buick models are sold there that are not in the U.S.

 

[spwolf]

OK, I'll agree, if you consider Russia part of Europe. And there are currently some sanctions against the Russians over the Ukraine/Crimea issues......I'm not sure if that includes the shipping of new cars from other countries into Russia or not.



Even though they are not built there, Lexus does seem to making at least some commitment to the country...they showed off the new ES at at Shanghai. The biggest current obstacle to Lexus in China, though, is probably Buick...the Chinese just love Buicks, they are enormously popular there, and several upmarket Buick models are sold there that are not in the U.S.

Lexus Europe includes Russia in its numbers . There are no export/import sanctions but due to collapsed rubble, cars are a lot more expensive now and people stopped buying them due to concerns about
the war and economy.

As to China sure they launched ES, they launch NX too... they sell all of them there, but without local factory that will keep prices competitive.

Buick has nothing to do with Lexus in China... it's car prices and vehicles are comparable to mainstream manufacturers in China, like Toyota.

Lexus probably has concerns about quality when it comes to Chinese production, but also problem is that Lexus has many models that sell similarly so they would have to build several cars there and not just one.

 

[mmcartalk]

Lexus Europe includes Russia in its numbers . There are no export/import sanctions but due to collapsed rubble, cars are a lot more expensive now and people stopped buying them due to concerns about
the war and economy.

Normally, low oil prices would help auto sales, especially those of larger vehicles, but in Russia's case, if it affects the economy too much, people simply won't have the money to spend on new cars.

Buick has nothing to do with Lexus in China... it's car prices and vehicles are comparable to mainstream manufacturers in China, like Toyota.

In China, though, Buick generally has a higher image than it does here in the U.S. Here, many (somewhat inaccurately) consider it mostly a geriatric brand for seniors. In China, it has won mass appeal from the public. Buick also markets some upper-line models there that are not available here.

If Lexus can make it in China, though, hey, more power to them. It's certainly a huge potential market, and, in my book, the more competition, and the more choice of auto-brands, the better. The consumer is the one who usually wins out when that happens.