Apparently Motor Trend had dinner with Mr. Farley last night in Carmel, near Laguna Seca where the IS-F is again being shown to the press:

http://blogs.motortrend.com/6217330/editorial/lexus-is-f-plus-jim-chris-farley/

Lexus sells more cars per dealership in Russia and China than it does in the U.S. Surprise you? It did me. "We're huge in Russia," Farley says. "China, too. They love our cars." The same can't be said for Europe, though. "We don't have the diesels for France, Germany, Italy," Farley admits. "Just making a transmission for a diesel engine can take ten years to recoup the costs, yet that's what European buyers want." When I asked if Europe really matters that much, given the Lexus success in Asia, Farley didn't hesitate: "It is a status thing. If you want to be taken seriously as an automaker, you've got to do well in Europe." Then he cracked a sly smile: "We have some things coming that I think will impress you."

Thats good to know they have something new, but is that just for Europe

Its impressive. Lexus does so well most everywhere but they know internally Europe is still an area of opportunity. People want to be associated with success with a luxury brand.

Lexus in such a short time has become an incredible brand. I believe in the top 100 brands in the WORLD, Lexus was 90, which was above Nissan, which has been around for ages.

Their management continues to make the right decisions. THey need some aggresive ones though, for Europe.

The hybrids are doing well, lets see what else they will come up with :)

Interesting, I wonder what they have planned for Europe.

it's very very good that lexus realizes the whole status and reputation thing. you just have to do it in order to be in the league. very good vision

Lexus knows what is wrong, and they are addressing it as profitably as possible. For them to enter the diesel game, with no guarantee of diesel technology's longetivity in the future, is definately foolish.

I hope they have something up their sleeves to address Europe...

"Just making a transmission for a diesel engine can take ten years to recoup the costs, yet that's what European buyers want."

Wow, 10 years to break even???:eek2:

How about putting the $$$ and effort into the "Sports" division where Lexus is constantly getting beat up by the mags-that's what the Americans want:p:thumbup::woot:

Nevertheless, Lexus is a phenomenal car company.

Nice. :) Will be interesting to see what comes in the years ahead.

Really great article :)

Lexus knows what is wrong, and they are addressing it as profitably as possible. For them to enter the diesel game, with no guarantee of diesel technology's longetivity in the future, is definately foolish.

I hope they have something up their sleeves to address Europe...

Destroy BMW, Mercedes and Porsche plants all over Europe

So how come this isn't just another useless "Press Release"?

So how come this isn't just another useless "Press Release"?

Lets keep this thread on topic please.

Destroy BMW, Mercedes and Porsche plants all over Europe

:cool: That will be the quickest way... :slap:

New info from these comments:

1. Per-dealer sales is huge in Russia and China (both have smaller #s of dealerships). Not to mention we just learned Lexus surpassed Benz in China for the top spot.

2. A diesel would take 10+ years to recoup the cost, so it's debatable how they would approach Europe.

Also if you read the whole thing, it's evident that you can take the man out of Scion, but you can't take the Scion out of the man (Mr. Farley launched Scion). He wants a Scion as a company car....imagine the Lexus head driving a Scion lol.

IS diesel hybrid?

Mr. Farley made some more comments, reported on Bloomberg:

http://www.bloomberg.com/apps/news?pid=20601101&sid=a.7gbqMnpYLA

Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) --Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus, the top-selling luxury brand in the U.S., is studying high- performance hybrids to appeal to buyers who want something sporty while being environmentally friendly.

Lexus may build such gasoline-electric models to reach ``enthusiast groups'' outside its core market, General Manager Jim Farley said in an interview yesterday.

More-powerful models may help Toyota meet a goal of extending its hybrid dominance in the U.S., with 78 percent of the market. The world's biggest maker of hybrids helped boost 2007 U.S. sales of the vehicles by 44 percent through August, based on Bloomberg data and figures from Autodata Corp.

``The benefit of electric drives is immediately available torque,'' said Eric Fedewa, an analyst at CSM Worldwide Inc. in Northville, Michigan. ``The Lexus hybrids have been tuned for performance to some extent, but there's potential for a true high-performance hybrid. That could be an exciting vehicle.''

Lexus also is studying ``a hybrid that's engineered for really high mileage and really low emissions,'' Farley said, without elaborating.

``There is a huge opportunity for a luxury-car company to be seen as a solution provider in terms of getting away from carbon pollution and heavy reliance on oil,'' said Farley, who is based at Toyota's U.S. sales headquarters in Torrance, California.

Challengers

Lexus is watching to see how consumers react to General Motors Corp.'s proposed Volt plug-in hybrid, intended to go 40 miles solely on electricity before the engine engages, and Tesla Motors Inc.'s battery-powered sports car that promises 245 miles of all-electric range, Farley said.

A rechargeable Lexus hybrid with extended electric range is possible, though an improved, ``super-efficient'' version of Toyota's current hybrid system may be more likely, he said.

At this month's Frankfurt auto show, DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Porsche AG displayed hybrid sport-utility vehicles intended to challenge Toyota in the U.S. in the next two years. GM has announced plans to offer hybrid Cadillac models to appeal to luxury buyers.

Toyota has sold more than a million hybrids since its Prius was introduced in 1997. ``In the U.S., hybrid is a key brand differentiator, and we don't intend to give that up,'' Farley said.

The Japanese automaker's U.S. hybrid sales this year were 190,057 for the first eight months as rising gasoline prices and wider model selection continued to add to the vehicles' appeal.

LS Hybrid

Lexus sells about 20,000 hybrids annually in the U.S., including the RX 400h SUV, GS 450h sports car and LS 600h L sedan. The latter, Lexus's most expensive model at about $120,000 with options, shows the potential for new types of hybrids, Farley said.

``RX and GS hit the sweet spot for our core business, models near that $35,000 to $45,000 range,'' he said. ``With LS we're attracting a buyer that really wasn't our customer before, a very premium buyer.''

That group includes ``hedge fund managers from Greenwich, Connecticut, entertainment leaders in Los Angeles and Malibu, and financial people on Wall Street,'' Farley said, without identifying individual customers.

Lexus promotes the LS as providing 12-cylinder power from a V-8 engine owing to the electric drive. The company expects to fill orders for about 2,000 annually, with ``most purchases being made in cash,'' Farley said.

Lexus U.S. sales this year through August rose 5.2 percent to 219,542, outpacing the 4.9 percent gain for all vehicles from Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota.

Toyota's American depositary receipts rose 99 cents to $115.88 as of 4:04 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They've fallen 14 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net

2. A diesel would take 10+ years to recoup the cost, so it's debatable how they would approach Europe.



The IS220D uses the same 170bhp diesel engine as the Toyota Avensis and Auris so any further development costs would be spread across a much wider base than just Lexus. When he says a transmission I assume he means a diesel auto transmission - currently a glaring ommission in the European line up.

:cool: That will be the quickest way... :slap:

:p

whatever Lexus has up its sleeve, the competition wont like it

Lexus is definitely being a leader instead of a follower and yet they are still conservative. It almost sounds ironic. Lexus does not rush to market with new products until that product is fully tested and researched. Either way I like what Lexus stands for I support them all the way...

The IS220D uses the same 170bhp diesel engine as the Toyota Avensis and Auris so any further development costs would be spread across a much wider base than just Lexus. When he says a transmission I assume he means a diesel auto transmission - currently a glaring ommission in the European line up.
177 hp, yeah...

So just because it takes 10 years to recoup the cost of development for a diesel-compatible transmission, Lexus chooses to opt out? Very short-sighted if you ask me.:thumbdn:

So how come this isn't just another useless "Press Release"?

This article provides specific details about Lexus sales in Europe and in China. It also notes some of the challenges Lexus faces in Europe. Jim Farley does not speculate on any future products, he merely mentions that some good stuff is coming for Europe.

I was talking with my new au pair tonight. She's from Sweden and joined our family exactly a week ago. We were talking about her home country, and I asked what kind of cars they have there. She told me they're mainly the same as here, but more Saabs and Volvos. I then asked her if they have Lexus and Acura over there. She said no, and that she'd never heard of Acura, but that she had heard of Lexus and that "we must be very rich" to be able to afford one.

It's of course just an isolated data point, but I found it interesting that even in a country where Lexus isn't sold yet that it is becoming known as a luxury brand.

I was talking with my new au pair tonight. She's from Sweden and joined our family exactly a week ago. We were talking about her home country, and I asked what kind of cars they have there. She told me they're mainly the same as here, but more Saabs and Volvos. I then asked her if they have Lexus and Acura over there. She said no, and that she'd never heard of Acura, but that she had heard of Lexus and that "we must be very rich" to be able to afford one.

It's of course just an isolated data point, but I found it interesting that even in a country where Lexus isn't sold yet that it is becoming known as a luxury brand.

Lexus is already available in Sweden ;) :

http://www.lexus-europe.com/

http://www.lexus.se/
.
Here's a picture of an IS200 I took last year in Stockholm, Sweden BTW :

http://img.photobucket.com/albums/v155/gscoupe/Scandin2006/1155395973_1000000.jpg

I saw a few 2IS's & RX's there too . . .

The IS220D uses the same 170bhp diesel engine as the Toyota Avensis and Auris so any further development costs would be spread across a much wider base than just Lexus. When he says a transmission I assume he means a diesel auto transmission - currently a glaring ommission in the European line up.

Transmissions don't care one whit about horsepower. They only care about torque. Diesels are very high torque and relatively low rpm, so the gearbox for a diesel is necessarily quite a bit more stout than a gasoline engine of similar power.

Toyota is not known for strong transmissions with the one exception being the Getrag 233 in the MkIV Supra. All other Toyota gearboxes fail at much lower power increases than one would expect. The W-58 and the A760E in Supras do not tolerate much increase over stock output without sudden death.

Even if Aisin (their gearbox manufacturer) did come up with a design, it would likely be only slightly more than adequate if history is any teacher.

This article provides specific details about Lexus sales in Europe and in China. It also notes some of the challenges Lexus faces in Europe. Jim Farley does not speculate on any future products, he merely mentions that some good stuff is coming for Europe.


I could dispute the point, but in the interest of not hijacking the thread (and not getting another speeding ticket from the moderators) I'll let it alone.

I'm still surprised at Lexus' successful entry into China, guess those ToL events they had there paid off.

I was talking with my new au pair tonight. She's from Sweden and joined our family exactly a week ago. We were talking about her home country, and I asked what kind of cars they have there. She told me they're mainly the same as here, but more Saabs and Volvos. I then asked her if they have Lexus and Acura over there. She said no, and that she'd never heard of Acura, but that she had heard of Lexus and that "we must be very rich" to be able to afford one.

It's of course just an isolated data point, but I found it interesting that even in a country where Lexus isn't sold yet that it is becoming known as a luxury brand.

Lexus is truly a superb success story and people respect it and want to be related to it. Their business model the last 20 years has just been incredible on how to run a car company.

Lexus WORLDWIDE is #90 on the list of best known brands. That is pretty incredible to do in such a short time and as you stated, its not sold everywhere.:thumbup: