IS-SV

Maybe granny took over when the fat guy had a heart attack.

oldcajun

I'm surprised the original article did not mention the unique problem that BMW of North America is facing. For years they subsidized the lease on BMW's by holding to artificially high residual values. Now these lease units are coming back into a depressed market leaving them holding the bag. Even if BMW in Europe made money selling small cars, BMW North America would still be in trouble. Lexus refused to play these games just to keep market share, so they should be in better shape when the US market recovers.
Steve

LexFather

Its funny an article from Business week is "doom and gloom" and you refuse to believe it yet you started a thread where 12 out of what, 200,000 Rav4s have a problem and its "OMG the Rav4 is the devil"??

The article is really repeating old news. They WILL have to merge or they will merge with someone eventually. Their financials are not solid at all, steel prices are rising, the German labor market is expensive and they are not selling enough cars. Their biggest market, America, is a lease market and as oldcajun has stated, its bit them in the ***.

I hope for continued success for them but Audi is posed to kick maybe everyones *** if they continue to keep it up.

DASHOCKER

iTrader: (2)

Read my posts in that thread including the initial post. LOL..the internet I tell ya..
Bingo!! Thread #76845 of the same ish.. These car companies are still churning new fresh products with full steam ahead..

LexFather

You do understand a company can continue to produce products reporting in the red right? Hell has anyone reported a profit the last year and everyone is still producing new vehicles. You don't just stop (well unless you are dumbass Acura).

BMW has to continue to diversify and sell more, the new X1 for instance will help.

amdave

Business model based on leasing to 30k/yr millionaires + credit tightening + depressed economy + increasing unemployment = bankrupcy.

Och

iTrader: (3)

As much as I appreciate BMW and MB churning out new products, and some of their products are truly great, I don't know if they are doing themselves a favor by having that many products. This concerns MB mostly, they have too many low volume sellers at this point. When you're selling 300-600 units of a particular model per month, you're not profiting that much. And I'm not talking about high priced AMG models either.

FinalBurst

The ES outsells both the IS and the GS and is larger than both of them. In Lexus' case, it has nothing to do with size. The main issue is price (and a little bit of comfortablity)

The two largest car companies in the world are losing billions (Toyota and GM).

Mercedes and BMW will be fine.

IS-SV

Yes in the US market, but in the also large European market both size and price come into play as explained in my examples.

I8ABMR

I wonder if I can get a deal on an E63 AMG and ditch the GTR/LS desire. The E63 is like a mix of the LS and the GTR all in one sexy package

The G Man

These so call low volume sellers are what makes BMW and MB what they are today. They are the companies flagship cars, it is what makes them truely a teir one luxury car maker. If they stop making these low volume sellers, they might as well just hang up and wave a white flag. That was the case with Acura when they stop making the NSX and thats why Lexus is making the LF-A.

DASHOCKER

iTrader: (2)

Agreed.. BMW & Mercedes do not make cars based on numbers. You want a proper sports sedan, coupe, verts, large medium smalll suvs, something enthusiasts want? These two brands have it.

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

I agree that the variety is what helps the German automakers be successful. Luxury autos are (arguably) all about choice. Whether it's having 4-5 SUV or near SUV choices (X1, X3, X5, X6, 5GT) or having the ability to build your car to spec (interior/exterior) it's all about choice. That's the one thing that Lexus is really lacking IMO. When people post up the promotional material that Lexus Japan has I get a little peeved. They have several different leather and wood options while the US generally has 3 - beige, gray, or black with wood choices dependent on the interior color. Yes it saves money, but I know I would've splurged and gotten a dark gray wood over the red wood I have in my IS

The G Man

Lexus really need to get rid of that regional option package setup, it really limits the choice.

mmarshall

You better not laugh too hard.

The problem is; several of those new BMW/Mercedes products turned out to be sales duds, were unnecessary, and/or were a waste of company time and resources. The Mercedes R-Class, GLK, and BMW X6 are prime examples.