[mister]

Lexus has been a major player in the US luxury market for many years. In fact in 2011 it led the entire US luxury market. IHS expects Lexus sales in the US to reach 170,000 units this year. That is a great number that puts the brand under BMW's expected 220,000 and sees them way ahead of Audi's expected 120,000.

European sales are a far different story. IHS expects Lexus sales to reach a paltry 46,000 units in Europe by the end of this year. That is minuscule compared to Audi's projected 772,600 and BMW's 745,000.

Apparently Europeans find Lexus dull. I found this surprising considering the bold spindle grille styling element. I'm not sure how people can think that is dull. Europeans seem to have more interest in the glamorous designs of the German brands though.

Lexus is hoping that its boldly styled NX crossover will be able to draw attention away from the Germans. It definitely is a more exciting design than that of the Audi Q5 and the BMW X3. It even stands up to the bold styling of the segment leader, the Range Rover Evoque.

Still, the NX is only expected to sell 16,000 units in Europe, which is far less than the 60,000 expected for the Evoque, 54,000 for the X3 and 52,600 for the Q5.

These are all estimates though. Reality could be far different. How do you think the NX will do in the European market?

 

[Kennedy]

I think no matter what it's going to be tough for lexus to break past the 100k volume mark, but out of all the vehicles they sell I think the NX will be one of them to greatly help them.

 

[mojo]

you have a fundamental misunderstanding of european shoppers...

Apparently Europeans find Lexus dull. I found this surprising considering the bold spindle grille styling element. I'm not sure how people can think that is dull. Europeans seem to have more interest in the glamorous designs of the German brands though.

Dull as in ponderous, as in unexciting to drive. No one buys german cars for their designs, you buy german cars because they are understyled and engaging. No gimmicks, just the drive.

 

[mister]

OK, I get that. I didn't think that Lexuses were particularly boring to drive though. I'm also surprised that the quality of Lexus doesn't count for more with Europeans.

 

[Kennedy]

when it comes to older lexus models, I can see how people get the idea that they are slow, but over time they have changed up quite a bit, now more than ever, clearly, the RC and NX being some of their greatest examples.

 

[Thai]

you buy german cars because they are understyled

Bangle-dized BMW disagrees with you....

 

[mister]

I guess the idea is to break that reputation that Lexus has in Europe. The RC and NX are certainly the right kind of car to do that. I wonder what kind of marketing Lexus could do in order to break this reputation that it has. Any ideas?

 

[twente]

the lexus is a beautiful car only be starved power, look at volo plug in hybrid and plug-in hybrid volkswagen these are much faster, this gives a better image

 

[mojo]

Bangle-dized BMW disagrees with you....

and I disagree with you... which is more egregious?

 

[mister]

I really don't find the Bangle Bimmers that bad looking. The thing that stands out most are the taillights and I don't find those bad at all. There is certainly more controversial things going on with the NX.

 

[Kennedy]

I always liked that style of BMW's, especially the 7 series, that's where it looked best and for the time it came out in, it really stood out. The 5 series could look better, as an M5 with the aero and extra exterior bits it has, it helps.