Not sure if anyone remembers the marvel comic "What If" but it basically was a monthly series with a random question and the story would answer it.
For instance "what if Peter Parker became Venom"? Things like that.

So I thought it would be pretty cool if we thought and spoke about "What If' with autos, here in Car Chat.

So for the first "What if"......
What if LEXUS never existed?

In this alternate future, let us say Toyota decided NOT to join the luxury party. No LS, no LEXUS. What would be different???? I know this can get very broad but here are some thoughts.
1. Customer service for all auto companies would be 10 times worse than today.
2. Quality for auto companies would not have increased from 1990 levels.
3. The other 2 Japanese luxury car companies would be in worse shape in regards to sales and respect.
4. Styling would be boxier. We might even still see exposed black bumpers on luxury cars.
5. The car based SUV would either not be created or just now created.
6. No car would have electroluminescent gauges


Overall, I think cars would still have gotten better but not to the extent of the golden age we live in today. I also do not think any other company would replace Lexus as one of the big 3. Well maybe Cadillac.

What would you be driving????

I probably would be driving a Nissan or Infiniti or Acura.

1-Luxury car makers would be making cars that are more poorly built than yugos and charging bently-like prices for the name plate.
2-we (well, you guys in the US) would not know the thing of beauty that is a modern japanese V8

Good thread, 1SickLex. I agree with most of what you said except for #3. Without Lexus, even if they hadn't improved to where they are now, Acura and Infiniti would still probably have better sales than they have now. There is a market for those who want luxury and performance but who have no interest in the German brands. Even you said you'd probably be driving a Nissan, Infiniti, or Acura...

I'd probably be in a 330xi

No RX300?????? :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry: :cry:

This is roughly the situation I have in Mexico. NO LEXUS. We have Acura (not every vehicle sold in their range though (lacking TSX and RDX) and Infiniti only sells the Q45.

Down here BMW and to a lesser extent now Mercedes and Audi are the kings of luxury. Acura still has not established itself well in luxury and Infiniti is a disaster.

Cadillac is also a joke here along with Hummer.

I probably would also have a BMW under this situation as even the MDX isn't stylish enough for me.

I think I'd be driving a Infiniti or Acura as well.. They would virtually take the lead in consumer sales and be number one like Toyota/lexus is today. My infiniti or Acura would be modded just like my GS is.. But the auto industry wouldn't be the same without Lexus.. :D

wouldve bought an acura

I would have had a 540i w/o Lexus. Maybe after several trips to the shop, I might have traded it in for a 07 Camry SE...

I would have had a 540i w/o Lexus. Maybe after several trips to the shop, I might have traded it in for a 07 Camry SE...

And then you'd be dealing with the Camry's transmission issues...Or did they address those issues for 07'?

I would have had a 540i w/o Lexus. Same here, I would have bought a 540i if Lexus did not exist.

And then you'd be dealing with the Camry's transmission issues...
Yep , that's IF I went for the V6 :D

wow, never realized life w/o Lexus would be so difficult...

I think Acura & Infiniti would have higher sales, & Mercedes Benz would probably still be the #1 luxury brand sales leader in the US & the world, & I would probably be driving a Mercedes & an Infiniti right now.

Then this thread wouldn't exist either...

No LS, no LEXUS. What would be different???? I know this can get very broad but here are some thoughts.
1. Customer service for all auto companies would be 10 times worse than today.


I don't know, I hate the local Lexus dealership. Local Infiniti and Acura are way better.


2. Quality for auto companies would not have increased from 1990 levels.


Well, I don't know, I think Acura does certain things better than Lexus. The Legend was an amazing car, and debuted before Lexus.


3. The other 2 Japanese luxury car companies would be in worse shape in regards to sales and respect.


Why is that? They would get all the potential Lexus customers.


4. Styling would be boxier. We might even still see exposed black bumpers on luxury cars.


Not sure if this is necessary a bad thing. I'm growing tired of today slick rounded shapes, and cheap plastic bumpers. But if anything, I don't think the slickishly retarded shapes of many of todays car have anything to do with Lexus.



5. The car based SUV would either not be created or just now created.


And how is that a bad thing?



6. No car would have electroluminescent gauges


I don't know about that, but FYI early Lexus gauges are the most unreliable terrible POS. They burn out before the car even reaches 100K, needles get stuck, and the stealership charges thousands to repair them. If anything, Lexus should be slapped with class action suit for putting in a POS for a gauge cluster in $50K vehicles.


Overall, I think cars would still have gotten better but not to the extent of the golden age we live in today. I also do not think any other company would replace Lexus as one of the big 3. Well maybe Cadillac.

What would you be driving????

I probably would be driving a Nissan or Infiniti or Acura.

I would probably drive Acura RL.

Without Lexus, I can see Toyota evolving by itself significantly:

1) SEDANS: Yaris to Corolla to Camry to Avalon to one ultra-sedan. The Camry may have a "limited" version that would be similar to the ES, and the Avalon would have a "limited" version that would be similar to the GS. There may be an ultra-sedan bigger than the Avalon, such as ones found in Japan (the Toyota Century Royal was nice...). Perhaps that would have made its way into the U.S.

2) HYBRIDS: Prius, Camry, and Highlander hybrids would be unaffected.

3) COUPES: Yaris coupe to Celica/tC to Solara to Supra/Soarer. The Solara may have a "limited" version similar to that of an ES coupe. The Supra would probably have lived on, being the performance halo that Toyota needs. The first gen SC could have been under the Toyota badge (hmmm... Soarer...) which would have been a more lux Supra-esque coupe.

--This is the most significant change: I think that if Lexus was not created, Toyota could have focused more on performance coupes over luxury sedans, and could have dominated the performance segment.--

4) SUVs: Rav4 to FJ Cruiser to Highlander to 4Runner to Sequoia to Land Cruiser. The SUV lineup would be unaffected (as it covers a breath and depth of functions), but may have "limited" versions similar to the RX, GX, and LX.

5) TRUCKS: Tacoma and Tundra would be unaffected.

6) VANS: Sienna would be unaffected, although a bigger lux van may be available...

Exactly...what would happen to those things like the Toyota Harrier that were rebadged RX300s more or less when they came to the U.S. Would l be driving a Harrier today?

Without Lexus, I think we would have seen Lexus cars with Toyota badges.

I mean that's how it was until recently.

The ES350 would have been the Camry/Cressida/Avalon, whatever they wanted to call it.

Lexus has a rep for being a Toyota. One that will most likely never go away.

Without Lexus I'd still be driving either an Acura, BMW, or Infiniti depending on which brand has the right car for me at that time. The only difference from now is that Lexus wouldn't be included on the list since they wouldn't exist. Otherwise it is the same list as today with Lexus included. I'm not brand exclusive so it makes little difference too me.

If I didn't have my sc400 I'd probably be driving a '02 CLK430 or '03 540i w/ M sport pkg.

I guess we wouldnt' be talking to each other here.....

Without Lexus, I think we would have seen Lexus cars with Toyota badges.

I mean that's how it was until recently.

The ES350 would have been the Camry/Cressida/Avalon, whatever they wanted to call it.

Lexus has a rep for being a Toyota. One that will most likely never go away.

Sorry sir but it seems you don't know much about Lexus. Please read the Lexus Story to see how this brand started.
Lexus was built from the ground up with the F1, aka LS 400 sold worldwide as Lexus since 1989. Only in Japan was it called TOyota.

People that know nothing about the brand have the perception that these cars already existed and Toyota decided one morning "hey, lets call the Celsior the LS 400" when it was the OTHER way around.

Lexus was close to 10 years in the making before its 1989 debut

I know Lexus forced a lot of car companies to wake up and realize that competition really does exist...especially the German car companies.