Lexus soars to success in SA
08/08/2007 15:23

Lexus says it has completed a successful first full year of sales since re-launching the brand in South Africa in July last year.

By February, Lexus had more than doubled their car park, exceeding the 1 782 sales result that had been achieved during the brand's presence in the South African market since 1993.

Lexus' first full year of sales since beginning their revitalisation plan returned 3 006 sales, the average monthly sales figure (250.5) comfortably exceeding Lexus' average annual sales volume since 1993.

Lexus embarked on a complete makeover last year, re-inventing themselves with an all-new product line-up spearheaded by the revised RX 350, and then joined by the new IS 250, GS 300 and LS 460.

The new model range was backed up by the creation of a dedicated Lexus brand division within Toyota SA to drive the brand forward.

Lexus claims that the IS 250 model "outstrips" sales efforts from BMW's 323i and 325i, Mercedes-Benz - C230 and C280, and Audi's A4 2.0TFSI models.

GS 300 sells more units every month than the Mercedes-Benz E350, BMW 530i, and Audi's A6 3.0 and 3.2 FSI derivatives.

While the Mercedes-Benz S-Class is a clear market leader in its segment, the Lexus LS 460 is a strong number two, selling a third more vehicles than BMW?s entire 7-Series range, and a factor of more than that compared to Audi's A8 and Jaguar's XJ range. The LS 460 held 25% market share of the segment in June.

Within the 3 006 Lexus sold in the last 12 months, IS 250 accounted for 77.3% of sales, GS 300 13.1%, the flagship LS 460 4.0%, and the RX 350 5.6%.

Revitalised Lexus puts luxury Toyota car brand on the map
August 14, 2007

By Roy Cokayne

Pretoria - The revitalisation of Lexus, the luxury car brand of Toyota Motor Corporation of Japan, is rocking the boat in South Africa's German-dominated premium car market.

Brian Hastie, the senior manager for Lexus South Africa, said last week that its average monthly sales of about 250 units in the first full year of sales since the revitalisation plan was implemented exceeded Lexus' average annual sales volume of about 180 units in the previous 13 years.

The Lexus brand was launched into the South African market in 1993 and achieved sales of 1 782 units up to its relaunch in July last year. By February, the number of units in the market had reached 3 006 units.

The global revitalisation strategy has led to Toyota South Africa creating a separate Lexus division and a new stand-alone dealership strategy.

Hastie said more than R150 million had been invested in 13 dealerships around the country, ownership of which was split between the major dealership groups and independents.

He said growth of the dealership network would be strictly controlled to ensure the viability of each dealership and the customer experience.

Lexus's global revitalisation strategy aims to establish the brand more prominently outside the US, where Lexus has led the premium car market since 1999. However, it has not been as successful in Europe and other major markets.

Hastie stressed that Lexus did not compete in the entry segment of the premium car market but was outselling its rivals in most of the segments in which it competed.

"Our vision is to become one of the top three luxury car brands."

Hastie said Lexus was not aiming to become the top luxury brand because it was only competing "higher up the price range" and not in the volume segment.

He said models in Lexus's range were more price competitive than its major rivals and had more features that were standard.

There are nine models in the Lexus range locally, with the price ranging from R287 800 for the IS250 to R803 400 for the flagship LS460. [...]