*Batman*

[QUOTE] know a man who smokes Rothmans. I know why he does this. Because in the days when cigarette companies were allowed to advertise their products, the man in the Rothmans ads had gold rings round the cuffs of his jacket. He was a pilot and back then pilots were very cool.

I smoke Marlboro Lights. I have no idea why, but having got through half a million of the things, I’m not about to change any time soon. There may be cigarettes on the market that are cheaper or made to a higher standard or more suited to my requirements but I am not interested in finding out. There is only one alternative to smoking Marlboros, so far as I’m concerned, and that is not smoking anything at all.

I have a similar sense of loyalty to my iPhone. I did not design it, and I have no shares in the company. But I get extremely angry when people say their Raspberry is better. It isn’t better. It has no touchscreen and no facility for playing paper toss and it’s for businessmen anyway. The iPhone is cool. I am an iPhone man.

I am also a Sony man, a Peroni man, a Diet Coke man — Pepsi is filth — a Sun reader, a Virgin frequent flyer, a Fulham boy and a Chelsea fan and I have a weird loyalty to Channel 4 News, even though all it does is read The Guardian out every night.

We are all brand loyal, but weirdly it takes only the slightest thing for us to switch horses. People moved to Primrose Hill because Sadie Frost lived there. People now fly Singapore because they get their own cabin. People went off Jonathan Ross because they didn’t like four of the 80m words he said last year.

I bet you have a favourite curry restaurant and you won’t even try any of its rivals. James May has a favourite pub. And Simon Cowell stays in the second best hotel on Barbados because, well, that’s where he always goes.

And cars. Oh God, the brand loyalty with cars is simply idiotic. Last time I checked, eight out of 10 BMW customers didn’t bother taking a test drive before buying a new car. So they’re spending probably £30,000 on something they’ve never even sat in. Madness.

I’m nearly as bad. I love the new M3 and the Z4 but I couldn’t actually have either because they are not AMG Mercs. I am an AMG Merc man as well.

This is where Lexus left me dumbfounded. Because it came along in 1990 with a brand that smelt slightly of Toyota and kicked Jaguar, BMW, Mercedes and Cadillac into the middle of next week. It’d be like a new football team smelling slightly of Stevenage coming along next season and nicking all the supporters from Manchester, Liverpool, Chelsea and Arsenal.

Anyway, the point is that when it comes to cars there are only a very few floating voters. This means that if you have a Mini, unless your wife has an affair in it, you will buy another Mini next time round. You won’t even bother to look at the Citroën DS3 I reviewed three weeks ago, and for you that’s a pity. It’s great./QUOTE]

TripleL

Good Article, Jeremy is so great.

More comments on that full article here... https://www.clublexus.com/forums/car...ser-2-2-a.html

mmarshall

Females, for whatever reason, DO seem to have an attraction to the Mini.....I've known only one male (a former CL member) who actually bought one. In this regard, it rivals the VW Beetle and Beetle convertible.

CDNROCKIES

Umm...I'm pretty sure there is a current member here who picked up a Mini recently.

*Batman*

One of my friends bought a mini last year. Recession hit him and his lease on his 330 cabrio was up, so he got a Mini John Cooper Works instead. I tell you I've driven that car and it really brings a smile to your face. So much power for a small car - it's like a rocket.

mmarshall

Possibly....but I don't want to take the liberty of posting any names....we may not be talking about the same person.

mmarshall

I don't totally agree on BMW. When Lexus came along, BMW was already the status-symbol of the "Yuppie" class of young adults, and was well on its way to becoming the "Ultimate Driving Machine" with enthusiasts. Lexus succeeded in one department....BMW in another.

speedflex

That's not exactly praise. More like just honest reporting.

*Batman*

Lexus has effectively become a better Mercedes. However in doing so it has taken share from all the luxury brands. I know I am not the only one here to defect from a long run of consecutive beemers.

MR_F1

+1. Exactly what I was thinking.

IS-SV

Both BMW and Mercedes have had to react to the success of Lexus in the lucrative US market. The influence of Lexus on BMW and Mercedes (and to a lessor extent Jag) is very apparent to knowledgeable enthusiasts. That was never expected given that Lexus was an upstart with no long history or legacy.

IS-SV

I do agree on Lexus impacting BMW, Mercedes and Jag. Cadillac at that time (90's) did not matter in this class of desirable premium cars, a non-player. Mercedes/BMW/Jag cache was already firmly established as desirable "yuppie cars" and for an upstart like Lexus to literally take chunks of sales from the established Euro brands was quite an accomplishment. The success of all 4 of these brands goes far beyond "enthusiasts", this class is dominated by sport/luxury sedan sales volume, and those that regularly buy premium car know this.

The end results speak for themselves, with Lexus as #1 in US sales.

IS-SV

Yes, and a good example/lesson for a business class at Harvard.

mmarshall

Yes, I agree with the way you describe it here, but that's not the way that Clarkson seemed to describe it. Here are Clarkson's words.........

Simply "Impacting" a brand, and kicking it into the middle of next week, as I see it, are two different things. Lexus DID affect BMW after 1990, but not the way it did the other brands. Mercedes, for example, was forced to lower their prices to compete, and M-B quality started to tank as a result. Jaguar basically went bankrupt and ended up being bought out by Ford. BMW, on the other hand, went on to become one of the world's most noted enthusiast brands.

IS-SV

Just splitting hairs and second guessing casual words by Clarkson ("middle of next week" junk words). Short answer is the impact on BMW and Mercedes can be measured in billions of sales dollars over time.

BMW and Mercedes were both forced to react. Mercedes prices remained high. Both BMW and Mercedes came out with a few cheapo models that didn't do well. Mercedes got side-tracked with Chrysler, can't blame Lexus for that. Cutting prices and quality declines by BMW and Mercedes had nothing to do with Lexus (because both companies had that experience). All 3 of Euro brands have had subpar quality when compared to Lexus and still do today. Agreed Jaguar had financial/unions/factory baggage that cannot be blamed on Lexus.

All 4 of these car companies make cars that cater to the small true enthusiast portion of their sales base today (M, IS-F, AMG, etc.). BMW has not successfully gone after the true performance/enthusiast market that Porsche dominates. BMW (like Mercedes and Lexus) sells primarily "sports sedans" that are more about refined luxury than performance (look at the models that actually sell in volume).

As Clarkson put it:
"Because it came along in 1990 with a brand that smelt slightly of Toyota and kicked Jaguar, BMW, Mercedes and Cadillac into the middle of next week."

Makes some sense as a casual obervation or comment in a funny way.