TOKYO - Marble flooring, orchids and bowing receptionists welcome customers at the Lexus car dealerships opening Tuesday in Japan, marking the introduction of Toyota's luxury brand in its home market 16 years after the cars were introduced in the United States.


Sales staff received training much like they would get at a five-star hotel to cater to picky Japanese drivers — a very different experience from what Americans get at U.S. Lexus showrooms, according to Toyota Motor Corp.

New Lexus owners receive their purchase in a special "presentation room" with a wall-to-wall mirror that allows the proud drivers to admire themselves, and the dealer may give buyers a bouquet of flowers or golf ***** for that personal touch.

"We want our customers to be moved by the whole experience," said general manager Yukihiro Fujimori, a former Toyota dealer who acknowledged that shifting from his past aggressive sales push took some adjusting.

Fujimori's showroom, one of more than 140 Lexus dealers opening nationwide, is in an upper-class Tokyo suburb, where imports such as BMW and Mercedes Benz are popular.

The challenge for Toyota is stealing some market share from that luxury import market, where annual sales have stayed flat at about 270,000 cars, according to the Japan Automobile Importers Association.

Lexus still lacks brand-name recognition in Japan, though through travel more people are aware of its overseas reputation.

Japanese consumers, who typically shun flashy cars, are slowly becoming more individualistic.

"It will take time, and it's not going to be easy," said Fujimori.

Japan's No. 1 automaker has previously sold Lexus models in Japan under the Toyota brand, although the cars are slightly different from the new Lexus models, but this is the first time the company is offering them under the Lexus name — and its accompanying luxury image, with prices to match.

The SC430 convertible runs as much as 6.8 million yen ($61,000) — and that excludes all the options.

"This feels more like a cultural center than a car dealer. It looks like a museum," said 50-year-old Tetsuyuki Hirano, who runs an architectural design company and is thinking about buying a Lexus GS430 for his wife.

Koichi Sugimoto, auto analyst at Nomura Securities Co., says Toyota is making a smart move with the Lexus in wooing buyers and streamlining dealerships in a saturated and sophisticated car market like Japan.

"Toyota is able to increase profitability by cultivating buyers in the high-end market," he said.

Toyota is targeting sales of 3,000 Lexus vehicles a month initially in Japan, but is hoping that will climb to 50,000 to 60,000 a year next year — about 10 percent of the 500,000 worldwide Lexus sales. Since 1989, Lexus global sales have totaled more than 2.7 million.

Other Japanese automakers such as Nissan Motor Co., which has the Infiniti luxury brand abroad, and Honda Motor Co., with its Acura, don't have their luxury dealerships in Japan, and have said they have no immediate plans to follow Toyota's example.

Toyota, which already controls more than 40 percent of the Japanese auto market, is banking on the Lexus to further strengthen its image and sales here.


CEO

 

The Museum of Lexus...I like it!

This article just made the front page of Yahoo.com!

 

how come we don't get the Japanese ladies to welcome us at US dealerships?