IS-SV

Good luck with the campaign, the product will be most important for sales and profit success.

Lexus loves this kind of advertising, esentially putting them on a pedestal at GM's expense.

I8ABMR

I think its funny how the American car companies lashing out at the Japanese. I remember when they used to laugh at Japanese cars and say they had lawn mower engines. They are eating and choking on those words

Jetfire

iTrader: (3)

If I drove by that fast enough, I would think it was an ad for lexus. Maybe it's good for pedestrians?

Och

iTrader: (3)

I would like to add that right now is the worst time for the ES350 to be as disappointing as it is. Back in the 90ies and early 00's the only real direct competitor to the ES was perhaps the Acura TL. Everything else was either too small/sporty (3 series, C class), too expensive (5 series, E class) or just plan out awful.

Nowadays however the competition is more aggressive than ever, and more impressive than ever. You have this Buick, the Hundai Genesis, Lincoln MKS, all fighting for their piece of the pie. Lexus simply cannot afford to lose their share of the market with their bread and butter ES model. They need to do a major facelift on the ES, otherwise they will get blown out of the water.

Just look at the new Acura TL for instance. Its brand new and its sales are already pathetic. Its practically doomed at this point. This is what happens when you bring an non competitive product into a highly competitive market.

AlexusAnja

I hate to say it, but I think that most "luxury" manufacturers will target Lexus because overall Lexus owners are just not as loyal to the brand as MB and BMW owners are. I think most MB and BMW owners can't see beyond the logo, so no need even to advertize mentioning them. So, the brand to attack easier is the low hanging fruit.

Personally, Buicks new slogan should be "The big *** of the world class..."

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Senior citizens will buy Buicks.
No matter what Buick model GM come out with,Buick will have the old people vehicle buyer brand stigma.
Tiger Woods was hired to get that age group down.It didn't work nor will this new LaCrosse.

Big Andy

If I was the Marketing Manager of Lexus I'd be delighted - my competitor has just put my product name in a prime location for thousands to see - at no cost to me and considerable cost to himself.

tex2670

Early returns that I have read indicate that they may have hit the mark, and made a true competitor to the ES350.

The G Man

I rode in a friend's Buick LaCrosse the other day, although a nice car, its still not in the same class as Lexus yet.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Are you sure it was your friend and not your grandfather,G?

The G Man

Well, it was my boss's secertary, shes like 60 years old The new Buicks are not as floaty as they use to be, but the interior is still typical cheap GM.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

Hey,I'm close to that age!!!
No Buick for me for at least 15-20 years!

LexBob2

The ES350 is an established brand/model. It's the big dog of entry level luxury sedans so anyone entering the segment will target it. Can you imagine an ES ad "watch out Buick"?

Competition is good, 1SICKLEX just posted a listing with the upcoming changes/improvements to the 2010 ES and they show that Lexus is making some nice and needed changes. It will be interesting.

mmarshall

No. There were also several others at that time.....Infiniti I30/J30, Cadillac Catera/CTS, Lincoln LS, and, as always, the BMW 3-series and Mercedes C-Class, though, of course, most of these were RWD while the ES was FWD.

I disagree, to an extent. The C-Class, back then, was not sporty, and, in fact, was considered rather stodgy.

The RX, especially in bad-weather areas, is Lexus' real bread-and-butter vehicle....more so than the ES.

The TL is actually a pretty nice car under the surface.....certainly competitive, mechancally. The problem is the surface itself......it is simply too ugly and controversial in the styling, and THAT's what is hurting it. .

mmarshall

It is true that a lot of older people buy Buicks, but they are not as much of a Geezer-mobile as the auto press would have you believe. That is a classic, inaccurate stereotype that is somewhat removed from reality. Younger people DO buy new Buicks, though generally not in large numbers. I've posted about this many times on CAR CHAT, yet that old stereotype still seems to stick with some people. The Enclave, in particular (and the Rondevous and Rainier before that) had lower average-buyer ages than some other Buicks.