[TheLex]

Above is an employee from the Miyata plant in Fukuoka Prefecture, inspecting the finished Lexus NX SUV for paint defects.

Lexus is still holding out on manufacturing their cars locally instead of shipping it from their plant in Japan because of quality concerns. While BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi are all manufacturing cars in China Lexus has continued to produce quality products even at the cost of driving up their vehicle prices from import taxes.

The executive vice president of Lexus International has stated that "there’s too much quality risk in China to produce there". Although standards of production has risen in China new vehicle owners are still reporting problems at a rate of 105 probles per 100 vehicles.

Lexus prides itself on quality and that's good news for us even if we pay a bit more for it.

 

[LexTom]

Lexus is already #1 in customer service so it's not surprise that their production line is held to the same standard. Don't mind the extra costs if I get a quality product in the end.

 

[mister]

I think that this is a good decision, albeit a tough one. Lexus has to put their reputation before taking a risk and manufacturing in China just to reduce the price of their vehicles.

 

[TheLex]

Even without the reduced prices, Lexus is still doing well with sales and probably because they are upholding their reputation of quality products and services. I'd rather pay more for quality than have to consistently repair something.

 

[LexTom]

As long as they don't use takata airbags. That stuff explodes when the airbag is deployed and it can spray shrapnel at you.

 

[mister]

Companies have been dropping Takata as a supplier so I think that it may be the case that Takata is really on its last legs.

 

[LexTom]

Lexus is the most reliable brand this year again! Most likely due to their stringent production process.
Consumer Reports' annual report on auto reliability lists Lexus as number 1 followed by Toyota.

 

[Kennedy]

Being quality leaders in the industry I think this was a sound move, if people weren't used to the level of reliability and dependability you get in a lexus, i'm sure without question they would do what BMW and the rest are.

Who knows, this could be what helps to give them the advantage in any market they get into.

 

[mister]

Do the Chinese tend to avoid Japanese products a little more since the two nation s have some bad blood between them?

 

[Kennedy]

Being quality leaders in the industry I think this was a sound move, if people weren't used to the level of reliability and dependability you get in a lexus, i'm sure without question they would do what BMW and the rest are.

Who knows, this could be what helps to give them the advantage in any market they get into.

That`s exactly what I was thinking here. Best not to kill the one thing they`re known right across the board for.

 

[mister]

That`s exactly what I was thinking here. Best not to kill the one thing they`re known right across the board for.

Quite true. Lexuses are great vehicles in many ways, but the one area where Lexus out performs its competition is in quality -- consistent quality across the board. That is probably the thing that the brand has to value ahead of everything else.

 

[Kennedy]

For sure. It's that level of reliability and dependability which gets people buy and not second guess it, almost coming down to a matter of just needing to see the car, it's features, and that's it!

 

[David]

I would consider looking into other options if Lexus went that route since it begins to make them no better than some other car makers.

 

[TheLex]

Not really going to move away from Lexus if they do produce in China but if their quality is going to be similar to that of their competitors then I won't be as loyal and go for whichever gives me what I want in terms of trim and specs.

 

[mister]

Not really going to move away from Lexus if they do produce in China but if their quality is going to be similar to that of their competitors then I won't be as loyal and go for whichever gives me what I want in terms of trim and specs.

In the end, I trust that if Lexus begins producing vehicles in China, Lexus will be at the point that they believe that production will be up to their standards.

 

[Kennedy]

I think even the chinese understand that they're known for poor quality, so even for the chinese market it will be better that vehicle sent to them are built elsewhere.

 

[mister]

I think even the chinese understand that they're known for poor quality, so even for the chinese market it will be better that vehicle sent to them are built elsewhere.

But China has tariff laws that make it so that companies have to produce in order to keep that prices of their vehicles down.

 

[David]

Wasn't aware of that, that being the case, i'm not sure what's going to be the most appropriate move for them. With China being one of the biggest markets (although right now I think they're at a low point), they'll have to figure out something and soon enough.

 

[mister]

Wasn't aware of that, that being the case, i'm not sure what's going to be the most appropriate move for them. With China being one of the biggest markets (although right now I think they're at a low point), they'll have to figure out something and soon enough.

Do you think that they should take the risk?

 

[TheLex]

I don't think it's worth the risk for Lexus considering that they're doing fine without producing cars in china. Now that China's car market has slowed down, they would risk even more in building a production plant there.