GonzoBuggs

That 4 year maintenance plan on the BMW is no different than the Lexus. They simply charge you for it up front, when considering a loaded 330i costs $47,800.

Lexus WILL sell you a 4 year maintenance plan as well, but I think you're better off keeping your money in the bank.

picus

While I agree with you guys - don't fall into the "categorize all BMW owners as elitist-posturing-hipsters" trap. Not all of them (I would guess a decently large percentage), buy BMW for the logo, but based on the actual merits of the car, which are of course debatable. No one can argue that the 3-series, while arguably ugly and overpriced, aren't decent enough cars that handle really well. Are there better cars for the money? Probably. Are BMW's crappy status symbols? Eh, I think that's stretching it a little.

spwolf

indeed, you can not simply start selling huge numbers out of nowhere but at the same time Lexus doesnt want to sell 100k of IS's actually. They want to diversify their sales so they are not dependant on one car (like RX now or BMW w/ 3 series)... Too many sales means lower margins, and threaten luxury brand image, which is why Lexus is not sure if they actually want to sell more than 300k sales per year.

If anyone can make single car huge sucess, it could be Lexus... They have huge customer base which helps a lot.