mikemareen

so what are u disagreein at ?

DaveGS4

iTrader: (2)

I'm going to qoute the request the moderator made as a reminder.

Fulorian, please exit this thread for again bringing unwarranted racist accusations into the discussion (a moderator removed those posts and the replies your commentary generated). If you continue to do this in the future, we'll ask you to leave Club Lexus.

oohpapi44

iTrader: (1)

Congrats. Once down that road in my lifetime was enough for me (even though I do love the rear of the new Sonata, the front - not so much).

Please post some pics and a review. I'd like to see how much Hyundai has 'grown' since the 90's.

shyguy16

i agree, except I believe it will pull in more Japanese buyers than Euro.
no matter what our perception is here, the germans are a more established player in the luxury market and i see more cross shopping between the LS and the equus than that 7/S.

mikemareen

actually a better alternative to the equus might be the 8 banger genesis if absolute luxury is not requirred.

I actually test drove a 6 banger genesis sedan and the overall power-weight ratio seem a little bit heavy on the pedal. the car just felt slightly heavy. maybe the 8 banger solves this dilema.

in many ways, a fully loaded 8 banger genesis does reach into the realm of the LS.

shyguy16

the genesis is all over the nyc metro area.
i see it more often than its competitor, the GS.

mmarshall

Well, Paul, I can't say that my heart bleeds for them. That's not exactly cruel and unusual punishment.

mmarshall

You can sometimes get Lexus routine-service work done at Toyota shops, as long as it is not warranty-related. A Toyota shop probably would have done an oil change for $30-50, using the same factory-filters/fluids as Lexus shops do.

Och

iTrader: (3)

At the top of the luxury market, the S class and LS are kings and are cross shopped constantly. The 7 is much more niche and doesn't have the same appeal as the S and LS. The all new 7 is struggling to keep up with the sales of the aging LS and S class - and both of them when new were selling more that twice as much as the new 7.

With that being said, LMFAO at Equis being cross shopped with the LS. It will not be cross shopped with LS, or S class or 7 at all. The few people who might buy it are those who want LS or S class but are coming up short 15-20k. We'll be hearing from the most insecure of them - they will be joining luxury car forums and bragging about their purchase while putting down the competition to make themselves not feel so bad about their compromised purchase

mmarshall

Before going out on a limb like that, I think it would be wise to wait and see what actually happens when the car is introduced. To make a blanket statement that the Equus will get the same reception in the American market as the 1Gen VW Phaeton did, and will not be cross-shopped against any potential competitors (even if those competitors are more expensive), is, IMO, a rather risky assumption.

CDNROCKIES

You sure about that?

Last month the 7 outsold the LS by 300 units and the S by 400 units.

Or look at it another way, the 7 was only short 500 units of outselling the S and LS combined.



I do agree with you that current 7/S/LS/A8 owners are not cross shopping the Equus....ever.

mmarshall

Did you read my post just above...#85? It's not wise to go out on a limb, beforehand, and make a blanket statement like that. Let's see what happens when the car is actually introduced.

Och

iTrader: (3)

And there were months this year when LS and S class outsold the new 7. If you take the average, all three of them are selling roughly even this year, pushing about 900 units a month. When current LS and S class went on sale, they were hitting close to 3k a month.

Hey, I'm not taking anything away from the 7, I have the old model myself, I'm just saying its much more niche. Traditional luxury buyers don't always find appeal in sportier ride and lower profile tires.

LexFather

It always amuses me when people always say "oh this car is going to kill Lexus" or "Lexus is going to suffer" and Lexus has still be #1 in sales here the last ten years. The competition has never been better and Lexus continues to solider on.

There will be no mass Exodus of LS buyers to the Equus and even if EVERY Equus buyer bought a LS, that would mean 250 less units for the LS and the LS would still be selling well as it sells between 800-1100 units a month.

What is proven and what we have seen is when a new car targets Lexus it may or may not succeed and there is no mass exodus of Lexus buyers to the new car.

The Luxury Institute consistently ranks Lexus in the top 3 in brand prestige. So no matter what people would like or wish, Lexus is considered one of the top brands here. This means the LS being a Lexus means people want the brand.

Its very amusing to see people constantly wish and beg for the LS to suffer when EVERYONE should commened and be amazed at the LS for being THE ONLY NON BMW/BENZ to succeed for 20 years. in the D class market. Infiniti failed at it, Acura never tried and VW failed at it. Not sure why people think all of a sudden its going to falter.

The Equus may or may not hit sales goals but it will still raise Hyundai brand awareness which is a great thing.

7 series now has the 740 6 cylinder in the lineup and that helped sales last month.

mmarshall

And the interesting thing is that the LS, for the most part, did it as a straight-luxury car, without trying to be a BMW-imitation sport-sedan.

It also depends on what you mean by the "D"-class market. The Lincoln Town Car, a noted flagship, for example, was also a great success for many years, and competed with the above models in size, luxury, and amentities, but not quite in price.



See, guys? HERE's an example of the open mind I was just talking about in my last posts. Mike, (correctly), is not going out on a limb.