The Rise of the Lavish Lexus Dealerships

The Wall Street Journal has an article up about the increasingly lavish Lexus dealerships that are popping up all over the United States. It’s an in-depth and enjoyable article, detailing not only the amenities but explaining the logistics behind such large investments: The Lexus of Palm Beach dealership moved from a much smaller, older facility …
Kevin · December 18th, 2007

Lexus Customer Service Examples

Nancy Fein, Lexus’ Vice-President of Customer Services, recently gave a talk at the Source Media Customer Engagement Symposium, where she discussed how Lexus reacts when things go wrong. Bill Taylor, co-founder of Fast Company and business author, was at the event and recapped the presentation: …what happens when big dreams get mugged by reality? That’s …
Kevin · December 17th, 2007

Lexus Takes Potential IS-F Customers to the Track

Rather than the mass-media marketing campaign expected with the release of a new vehicle, the Lexus IS-F will be promoted in a different fashion — letting potential customers test drive the car on race tracks across the United States: Lexus will try and lure in buyers at the track, said Brian Bolain, Lexus’ national manager …
Kevin · December 17th, 2007

Lexus LS 460 Lane Keep Assist Video Demonstration

The Lane Keep Assist feature, which effectively locks you into a highway lane, may only available on the European & Asian Lexus LS, but it’s incredibly effective, at least in the context of this video: I’m of two minds with this feature. You can never discount added safety, but the movement towards automated driving makes …
Kevin · December 16th, 2007

2008 Lexus LX 570 Prices Announced

The newly-redesigned 2008 Lexus LX 570 will start at $73,800, according to a dealer announcement that made it’s way to Autospies. It’s a $6,405 jump up from the outgoing LX 470, but there’s some significant new features (Crawl Control and front/side cameras, for example) that no doubt added to the production cost. Also included in …
Kevin · December 16th, 2007

Did the Lexus LF-A Set a Nürburgring Record?

If Japanese magazine Holiday Auto is to be believed, the Lexus LF-A has put in a dominant performance on Nürburgring, lapping the track in 7:24. If true, it would make the LF-A the fastest production car to run the ring. This comes on the heels of Pagani Zonda F setting the record in October of …
Kevin · December 14th, 2007

Japanese Lexus IS-F Promotional Video

A IS-F promotional DVD has been available from Lexus Japan for some time, but it’s only just made its way onto the Internet: I’m not sure if this is the full extent of the video sent out, but I do know one thing: It wouldn’t be possible to find a more ill-suited soundtrack.
Kevin · December 14th, 2007

Lexus Announces Assorted 2008 Prices (Plus the 2009 RX 350 Price)

Lexus has set the Manufacturer’s Suggested Retail Prices (MSRP) for an assortment of models, including the 2009 RX 350, which will skip up $100, bringing the front-wheel-drive version to $37,500 and the all-wheel-drive version to $38,900. The 2009 RX 350 is expected in dealerships by early February 2008. Other models see a price bump as …
Kevin · December 14th, 2007