speedflex

FORTUNE -- They may not rank with "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you," or "The check is in the mail," or "I'll respect you in the morning," but promises over the years from Lexus that it will make its mechanically impeccable vehicles more daring and emotional in their design are beginning to have an empty ring about them.

Lexus has been saying the same thing for nearly a decade:

Just-auto.com April 13, 2004. "Expect more boldly styled cars from Lexus, Lexus group vice president and general manager Dennis Clements told Reuters. "'Our customers have told us they're looking for a more emotional and elegant design.'"

AsiaOne Marketing," Nov. 28, 2007: "Lexus shifts into higher gear with play on emotions. More Lexus high-performance sports models can be expected in the near future and it will be more than just that the Japanese luxury carmaker wants to make faster cars -- the goal is to inject more emotion into the marque."

The Motor Report, July 23, 2011 "Lexus promises a more defined and emotional design philosophy for the new sedan's styling. 'Our customers have been waiting for a new GS that's more intense in every way,' Lexus boss Mark Templin said."

See a pattern here? Lexus has been promising to do something about its unimaginative design but has been unable to live up to its own standards or the demands of conquest customers.

U.S. boss Templin came to New York to talk up Lexus last week, and if he felt uncomfortable about the shortcomings of its emotional intelligence, he didn't show it.

Like his predecessors in the Lexus job, however, he must be frustrated by the brand's inability to establish itself solidly in the top rank of global luxury brands because of something so intangible.
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At 22 years old, Toyota's (TM) high-end division is the youngest of the upscale brands. (Mercedes-Benz, 125 this year, is the oldest.) While it has equaled or surpassed its competitors in customer service, quality, and reliability, Lexus has never achieved that iconic status that comes from a mystical combination of style, heritage, and driving dynamics.

That shortcoming becomes especially apparent when Lexus suffers a drought of new models, such as it has this year. Through October, it has been looking at a steep 17% decline in sales in an otherwise strong luxury market. By comparison, Mercedes sales have climbed 10% this year, BMW 12%, and fast-rising Audi 15%.

In contrast to previous years, Lexus is taking some concrete steps to address its emotional shortcomings, although it is unclear how much they will contribute. In October, for instance, it began accepting orders for a Lexus supercar, the LFA. Its specifications are jaw dropping: Powered by a 10-cylinder engine, the hand-built carbon-fiber two-seater is capable of a top speed of 202 miles per hour. The price is equally jaw dropping: 37.5 million yen or $350,000.

The LFA is the living definition of the halo car. With no rational business case attached to it, it exists entirely as an expense item in a marketing plan, designed to suffuse the rest of the Lexus lineup in a favorable glow and thereby change perceptions about it.

But supercars have become as common as subvented leases in promoting luxury brands and tend to have short sell-by dates. They command public attention only until the next supercar comes along. The Nissan GT-R, nicknamed "Godzilla," was the talk of the industry when it came out in 2007, but more lately has been filed under the heading of "yesterday's news."

Besides, the LFA seems weirdly out of phase with the rest of Lexus's lineup, since Lexus prides itself on having more hybrids than any other luxury car brand. Lexus calls the LFA a test bed for new technology, but it is hard to see 12-cylinder engines or carbon-fiber bodies finding their way into the model range.

The LFA stands as kind of a rebuke to the typical Lexus owner: She drives an RX crossover, the most popular Lexus, and the one model that contributes 40% of Lexus sales. If Desperate Housewives had a show car, it would be the RX, popular in upscale suburbs from Scarsdale to Santa Monica. But it is hard to imagine one of its owners getting behind the wheel of an LFA unless her name is Danica Patrick.

The LFA aside, Lexus is poised to experience a spurt in sales as it launches a flurry of redesigned models, beginning with the GS sport sedan. That's a positive. It also has an edge in fuel economy. Thanks to the presence of five hybrids in its lineup, it doesn't face the same pressure as its competitors to downsize its models to meet fuel economy standards. Templin says Lexus will be offering no cars smaller than ones it already sells.

But more emotional Lexus cars? We'll have to see. You never hear Mercedes or BMW talking about their emotional design. It's part of their genetic code. Lexus may just have to focus on what it does best -- quality, reliability, customer service -- and hope that its strong connection with its customers comes along that way.

http://money.cnn.com/2011/10/31/auto...on=money_autos

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

This article is garbage.

LFA is priced at $350,000 ?

GTR is "yesterday's news" ?

First, LFA is 10 cylinder, then it's 12 cylinder ?

RXSF

^^ I agree,

They bring up the sales numbers this year but put the blame entirely on the lack of design and driving feel of the vehicles, and dont bring up the earthquake?

Also, I think design wise Lexus made dramatic improvements in 2006+ with the LS, IS, and even the GS. Definitely more daring than pre 2000 models IMO

spwolf

well they do mention drought of new models which is correct and just part of normal sales cycle... I dont think Lexus would have ended down if not for tsunami that destroyed RX and CT production especially... it might not have gotten up by 15% either though.

but next year it is all up to them... new GS, new IS, full year of CT, facelifted and available RX...

for europe and japan they really badly need some 250h/300h powertrain based on whats in the Camry... and use it in CT, IS, ES, RX and GS.

probably the main problem there being that in reality, production costs between 250h and 450h are very much alike, engine itself is probably less than $2k in cost difference and everything else is pretty much the same. So they might wait for production costs to lower.

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

^Don't you mean new ES, not IS?

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

I think Lexus could use some better looking designs on a few of their cars. I think older Lexus' like the SC400 and GS400 had a really exciting and stylish look to them. The newer ones don't seem quite as exciting, but I wouldn't call them flat out boring or emotionless either. It also doesn't help that we've had the same GS, LS, ES, and IS since 2006.

Alucard

I think Lexus' current designs aren't boring at all. What they lack in "excitement" they more than make up for with designs that age well.

I do hope Lexus would change it's mind about having a corporate design language ala Audi/Benz/BMW that results in a lack of diversity.

Mr. Burns

For me I think Lexus designs are among the best executed, and while not always the most exciting aesthetically, they're generally good looking as well. The problem is Lexus has a core customer base who prefer understated designs, and it's a delicate balance of pleasing those people as well as a different set of customers who want more excitement.

rogers2

Lexus designs are ok, nothing offensive. Lexus need to keep doing what they're doing but please make a freaking coupe.
The truth is that every luxury car maker has a few sedans with a nice interior. Where are the coupes? No affordable coupes = no excitement.