J.P.
05-26-04, 06:37 PM
want to see retards? here is the link to posts about this lexus article
http://news.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?action=l&board=37138456&tid=apjapanlexus&sid=37138456&mid=1
Toyota Introducing Lexus Brand in Japan
Wed May 26, 8:18 AM ET Add Business - AP to My Yahoo!
By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer
NAGOYA, Japan - Fifteen years after the first Lexus automobile went on sale in North America, the Japanese auto giant Toyota is planning to launch its world famous luxury brand in Japan.
Toyota Motor Corp. (news - web sites) is setting up 180 Lexus dealerships in Japan, preparing to start sales in August 2005 with a first-year sales target of 50,000 to 60,000 vehicles. Worldwide, Toyota has sold more than 2.4 million Lexus models since its launch. But while Toyota has sold luxury cars at home, it hasn't sold the Lexus here.
Japanese fans of luxury cars have always had a weakness for imported brands — such as Mercedes and BMW — which carry a prestige that homegrown models don't offer.
"Toyota must show a special value in the Lexus, a way to make people proud they own one," said Shinji Kitayama, auto analyst with Shinko Securities in Tokyo. "It's not going to sell that well at first, but sales can be expected to pick up gradually."
To win over the Japanese, it won't be enough for courteous dealers to pamper customers — a strategy that worked in North America but something that is standard in Japan, Toyota officials said. The key will be training sales people to offer even better services, they said.
"Our goal is not just volume. We're going for prestige," Toyota's project general manager Tony Fujita told reporters Wednesday as he showed them around a stylish Lexus dealership in Nagoya, 170 miles west of Tokyo.
Winning respect for the Lexus in Japan is critical to boost Toyota's brand development, Toyota executive vice president Kazushi Iwatsuki said.
"We want to make the Lexus a premium global brand by succeeding in selling it in our motherland," he said.
Toyota will roll out four models in the first year, and most dealers are expected to achieve profitability by the second year, Toyota said.
The expansion of the Lexus market comes at a time when Toyota sales are booming not only in the United States but also in Europe and Asia.
For the fiscal year ended March 31, Toyota marked a milestone with a 55 percent surge in profit from the previous year to become the first Japanese company to earn more than 1 trillion yen a year.
The manufacturer, based in Toyota city near Nagoya, sold 6.7 million vehicles worldwide and expects to sell 7.02 million vehicles this fiscal year.
Some Japanese connoisseurs are already looking forward to the arrival of the Lexus.
Satoru Imada, a 33-year-old garden designer, visited a Lexus showroom during a recent trip to Australia.
"Luxury cars used to feel a bit old-fashioned for our generation," he said. "The Lexus is a new kind of luxury car that represents our values and allows us to express ourselves."
Kunihiko Shiohara, an analyst at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo, believes the advent of the Lexus in Japan will be a good way for Toyota to streamline its operations.
"Toyota dealers have been such a fantastic success in Japan, it's otherwise hard to introduce change," he said.
http://news.messages.yahoo.com/bbs?action=l&board=37138456&tid=apjapanlexus&sid=37138456&mid=1
Toyota Introducing Lexus Brand in Japan
Wed May 26, 8:18 AM ET Add Business - AP to My Yahoo!
By YURI KAGEYAMA, AP Business Writer
NAGOYA, Japan - Fifteen years after the first Lexus automobile went on sale in North America, the Japanese auto giant Toyota is planning to launch its world famous luxury brand in Japan.
Toyota Motor Corp. (news - web sites) is setting up 180 Lexus dealerships in Japan, preparing to start sales in August 2005 with a first-year sales target of 50,000 to 60,000 vehicles. Worldwide, Toyota has sold more than 2.4 million Lexus models since its launch. But while Toyota has sold luxury cars at home, it hasn't sold the Lexus here.
Japanese fans of luxury cars have always had a weakness for imported brands — such as Mercedes and BMW — which carry a prestige that homegrown models don't offer.
"Toyota must show a special value in the Lexus, a way to make people proud they own one," said Shinji Kitayama, auto analyst with Shinko Securities in Tokyo. "It's not going to sell that well at first, but sales can be expected to pick up gradually."
To win over the Japanese, it won't be enough for courteous dealers to pamper customers — a strategy that worked in North America but something that is standard in Japan, Toyota officials said. The key will be training sales people to offer even better services, they said.
"Our goal is not just volume. We're going for prestige," Toyota's project general manager Tony Fujita told reporters Wednesday as he showed them around a stylish Lexus dealership in Nagoya, 170 miles west of Tokyo.
Winning respect for the Lexus in Japan is critical to boost Toyota's brand development, Toyota executive vice president Kazushi Iwatsuki said.
"We want to make the Lexus a premium global brand by succeeding in selling it in our motherland," he said.
Toyota will roll out four models in the first year, and most dealers are expected to achieve profitability by the second year, Toyota said.
The expansion of the Lexus market comes at a time when Toyota sales are booming not only in the United States but also in Europe and Asia.
For the fiscal year ended March 31, Toyota marked a milestone with a 55 percent surge in profit from the previous year to become the first Japanese company to earn more than 1 trillion yen a year.
The manufacturer, based in Toyota city near Nagoya, sold 6.7 million vehicles worldwide and expects to sell 7.02 million vehicles this fiscal year.
Some Japanese connoisseurs are already looking forward to the arrival of the Lexus.
Satoru Imada, a 33-year-old garden designer, visited a Lexus showroom during a recent trip to Australia.
"Luxury cars used to feel a bit old-fashioned for our generation," he said. "The Lexus is a new kind of luxury car that represents our values and allows us to express ourselves."
Kunihiko Shiohara, an analyst at Goldman Sachs in Tokyo, believes the advent of the Lexus in Japan will be a good way for Toyota to streamline its operations.
"Toyota dealers have been such a fantastic success in Japan, it's otherwise hard to introduce change," he said.