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http://www.autonews.com/article/20170116/OEM03/301169958/lexus-execs-see-holes-in-the-lineup
Possibilities: Crossovers, performance models, EV
DETROIT -- Lexus is rounding out its car lineup this year with the LC halo coupe and the LS flagship sedan unveiled in Detroit. But executives still see plenty of gaps for new vehicles.
Potential areas of expansion include a subcompact crossover, a three-row crossover, a broader range of F-badged performance cars and even possibly a Tesla-fighting all-electric entry.
Lexus General Manager Jeff Bracken said the brand is forgoing as many as 70,000 vehicle sales a year by not competing in the subcompact and three-row crossover segments alone. Last year, Lexus trailed first-place Mercedes-Benz by fewer than 10,000 vehicles in the U.S. luxury title race, with sales of 331,228 to the German rival's 340,237.
Plugging the gaps won't guarantee a brand sales boost of 70,000 vehicles. Entries such as a three-row crossover might siphon sales from the midsize RX, while a subcompact crossover might partially cannibalize the compact NX, Bracken acknowledged.
But the musings show Lexus sees lots of new volume still prime for the picking.
"We do think there's room to fill some gaps that still exist for Lexus," Bracken said at the Detroit auto show, where the Japanese luxury maker unveiled the next-generation LS sedan.
One gap is the subcompact cross- over tier. Lexus might tap booming demand in that segment with a vehicle based on the UX Concept shown at last year's Paris auto show.
"That's a gap we are watching very closely," Bracken said. "We're very fixated on trying to move that conversation forward with our parent corporation."
Lexus is giving up 25,000 to 35,000 annual sales by not offering a subcompact crossover, he said.
Lexus is also weighing a three-row unibody crossover that would drive more like a car than the hulking body-on-frame GX and LX SUVs. Another 35,000 annual sales are up for grabs if the brand were to introduce such a three-row, Lexus estimates.
The brand expects it could reap more marginal volume from additional F performance variants.
"We still have performance gaps to fill, and we can do that really well with the F," Bracken said. "We feel we've been missing it on the higher end when it comes to passenger cars."
He declined to identify nameplates, but possibilities would include the LC and LS.
Lexus has only the GS F sedan and the RC F coupe. Together they accounted for about 2,300 sales last year, Bracken said.
In perhaps the brand's biggest departure, Bracken said Lexus is also considering an electric vehicle. Such a move would be a change for a brand of Toyota Motor Corp., which has long been skeptical of EVs in favor or the gasoline-electric hybrid technology it helped pioneer with the Toyota Prius.
Lexus began considering EVs after the Paris show in September, during which European luxury rivals pushed the technology. Mercedes-Benz announced it would launch 10 new EVs by 2025.
"It was amazingly focused," Bracken said of the 2016 Paris show's EV aura. "Subsequent to that show, from my standpoint, we began conversations with our product planners."
Lexus has just begun investigating possibilities. But Bracken cited more stringent emissions rules and environmental awareness as two reasons to give EVs a look.
"I think we'd have our head buried in the sand if we didn't thoroughly study all electric," Bracken said. "You definitely have to do that."