FiveOhNine

Sure, blame the iPhone

Stay in school!

LexFather

Some people simply don't understand this is Lexus interpretation of a sports sedan. Just as Audi, BMW, etc have their interpretations.

It does puzzle me how some people want what another car has but badged another car. Makes no sense.

All cars in this segment are doing well. So a lot of happy people.

FiveOhNine

Hehe, you put the best of all cars into one car and badge it a hyudaewooyugopinto whatever you want and I'd be all over that like STDs on a hooker. I, for one, could not care less what badge goes on my car.

LexFather

GO YANKEES!!!!

Greycat

Before I ordered my IS250 I went to BMW's and had a look to the latest 3 Series. They had a 325 in their showroom with some few options: Silver met, alloys, manual sunroof. This means: No Nav, no Hifi stereo, no leather, no Xenon, manual gear and so on. On the top combined with a very poor looking interior. The price for it was CHF 55'000.

I took the documentation home and started (very bored, because the option list is so complicated and endless...) to add only some of the options I have now in my IS250 luxury and I stopped to calculate after the price exceeded CHF 76'000. And sorry - why should I pay around CHF 150 for easy fix holders for child seats which are standard in every stupid Hyunday?

I am using my car mostly for my way to work in Switzerland with a max. speed limit of 120 Km/h and for weekend trips I drive on Swiss mountain roads. For me, the handling of the IS is perfect (believe me - you can test it on the mountain roads) and I don't care a **** if a BMW handles better since it is not worth its price. Quality and equipment are more important than a maybe, sometimes, eventually better handling (on a race track?). If I compare the overall package considering normal daily usage it is really no question that the IS is the much better offer.

Cheers
Greycat

PS: The IS is quite rare in Switzerland since German cars have some kind like a domestic market here. This makes the IS even more special for me

socalJD

I call BS. If the badge was Pontiac or Dodge, you would throw down 50 large on it ? I sure as hades would not . . .

linh811

Lexus knows its intended market. They know that most of their potential buyers could give a rats **** about performance or handling. Most Lexus buyers are attracted to the name, styling, price (relative to a bmw), and perhaps reliability.
They also KNEW that MOST of the buyers of their "sports" sedan, the 2ISx, don't care about performance either. How else do you explain the castrated version (250) outselling the "sport" version (350) 4 to 1 ?

jdanon

Well said. Lexus doesn't want to sell the 350 any more than they want to sell the manual transmission version of the 250, at least all signs point to those conclusions. The bread and butter of Lexus a.k.a. Toyota is the Camry. That's the cash flow they care most about. If 5 or 6 people don't buy the IS, a niche car at best in their line of cars, because the handling isn't the same as the 335 who here actually thinks Lexus will care? Lexus doesn't sell that many ISes to begin with, so losing sales of true performance geeks doesn't result in much economic impact.

Joeb427

iTrader: (1)

" castrated version "
Very interesting.

I believe the castrated version sells more because it's available in AWD.
The AWD is the main reason I bought an IS250.
I had zero interest in a IS350.If I wanted 2WD,I would buy a few other vehicles in the $40K to $43K price range over a IS350 in a heartbeat.
The 350 is a nice car but I like others more in that price range or a couple of grand more..
"Different strokes for different folks"

FiveOhNine

If it had Porsche handling, Lexus reliability, Bugatti transmission, etc, etc. You damn well better believe I would drop way more than 50 grand. I don't give a Flying horse shyte what brand it is. All I care is that it performs.

sirkfc

Because it is produced at a 4 to 1 ratio?

FiveOhNine

That's tomorrow, don't get ahead of yourself

combfilter

iTrader: (3)

I thought it was 8 to 1. I've read that quite a few times on here so therefore it must be true

socalJD

What kool aid are you drinking ? The IS is the 3rd best selling Lexus behind only the RX & ES, something to the tune of 50k+ units a year. If Lexus truly didn't care about IS sales, they would've kept the 1IS which was doing 1/5 what the 2IS is doing now. The IS is a homerun in Lexus (TMC)'s eyes. The success of the 2IS justifies Lexus to go forward with the IS-F. Keep an eye on the GS, if sales don't pickup, there ain't gonna be a GS-F . . .

jdanon

The IS has accounted for 2% of all TMC's sales this year so far (41,706 of 2,001,646 vehicles total). That's pretty small I think. Since Lexus only makes 8 models total (3 SUVs and 5 sedans?), saying it's in 3rd place is a bit misleading especially in light of the fact that Lexus overall only accounts for slightly less than an eighth of all vehicle sales. Camries and Corrollas account for 56% of TMC's passenger car sales, and if you throw in the ES which is basically a rebadged Camry, that number jumps to 71% of all cars. The IS is dwarfed many times over in unit sales by Camries (9 times) and Corrollas (7 times). If you rank all TMC models, the IS is #18 in total sales with a YOY change of about 40 units (about +0.1%) which shows little growth. That's hardly a homerun, but certainly is a heck of a lot better than the IS300 was selling I'll give you that. I think it's safe to call the Camry the bread and butter of TMC and the IS a minority model.