[mojo]

Lexus is tied with BMW as the top two considered brands for luxury shoppers

or Lexus, this has been a huge bounce back from a first quarter slide that briefly took them down below brands like Infiniti, Audi and Mercedes Benz. They have gone from 6% of US likely car buyers saying they would consider the brand in mid-February to 16% currently.

Combined with possessing the second highest levels of luxury car category brand health with potential buyers as measured by YouGov BrandIndex, Lexus is well positioned for a memorable spring to summer season.

Keep in mind it was only a study sampling 1200 shoppers in the US...

 

[mister]

Wow Lexus and BMW are miles ahead of their competition. I find it surprising that Mercedes Benz isn't considered more though. They sell basically as much as BMW usually so the amount of people who convert into sales from their consideration must be a crucial piece of information here.

 

[Kennedy]

With the way lexus is improving they are a brand to consider when looking at a specific vehicle of theirs compared to the rest in its segment.

 

[mojo]

its a little foolish to be honest. Impressions never equal conversions.... Then again what is consideration? I was considering a LExus but bought a KIA? everyone can do that LOL

 

[toyotafan]

lexus is really attracting alot of german buyers

my wife was actually thinking about trading in her audi a4 for the new lexus is

she really likes the interior and exterior design

plus its going to be much more reliable...

 

[mister]

I think that people are always looking for true alternatives to the German brands. It's kind of an underdog story. You can go with a German brand like a lot of people do, or you can try to find a brand that is slightly less popular but rivaling the Germans in terms of quality and luxury. Lexus offers a great alternative to the German brands, the best of any other luxury brand IMO.

Other underdogs that are doing well are Jaguar and Maserati, but Lexus beats them all in terms of quality.

 

[mojo]

I would not really ever call Jaguar and Maserati luxury underdogs. Jag and Mas are basically a step above the german three and lexus. I mean what makes them an underdog, volume? good, luxury should be exclusive

As for Lexus, in NA they really still are the supreme. I mean sure BMW may move more cars, but Lexus broke Cadillac and Lincoln and paved the way for Merc, BMW and Audi. They are the pinnacle, people know that. The one's who don't buy the image anyways...

 

[toyotafan]

I would think Audi would be competing hard up there as well

I am seeing more and more folks jumping to Audi

 

[mister]

I would not really ever call Jaguar and Maserati luxury underdogs. Jag and Mas are basically a step above the german three and lexus. I mean what makes them an underdog, volume? good, luxury should be exclusive

As for Lexus, in NA they really still are the supreme. I mean sure BMW may move more cars, but Lexus broke Cadillac and Lincoln and paved the way for Merc, BMW and Audi. They are the pinnacle, people know that. The one's who don't buy the image anyways...

They are more exclusive mostly because they are a bit more expensive and they simply are built in less numbers. I also think that they aren't quite as set-up and complete as BMW and Lexus, etc... If you offer more products that target a broader range of people than you are going to have more people considering buying your cars.

Maserati and Jaguar simply don't offer as many different models.

 

[Thai]

As for Lexus, in NA they really still are the supreme. I mean sure BMW may move more cars, but Lexus broke Cadillac and Lincoln and paved the way for Merc, BMW and Audi. They are the pinnacle, people know that. The one's who don't buy the image anyways...

Like you said, the above graph is very limited in scope and range. Therefore, conclusion from such a small sample should be limited.

I am not sure that i agree with your statement that Lexus is "supreme" or "pinnacle."

People who buy Lexus are those more conservative, more into reliability and durability. But, "pinnacle of luxury" or "supreme", i would say that Mercedes has Lexus beat if you're going to use those terms. To an average person, Mercedes higher end offerings are still the ones that you aspire to.

When you buy a high end luxury car, image is ALWAYS a factor in your buying process. Most folks who buy Lexus LS or Mercedes S-class or BMW 7-series probably have image as a factor. Very rare folks buy a high end car without even looking at image.

If most high-end folks don't care about image, then Hyundai Equus should be selling like hotcakes! But, who the **** wants to buy a $65k car in the same showroom as a $10k Accent?

 

[Kennedy]

Jag's and Maserati's are indeed higher up, something special about them, if you don't want to go the mainstream approach...consider jag or maserati

 

[Thai]

Jag's and Maserati's are indeed higher up, something special about them, if you don't want to go the mainstream approach...consider jag or maserati

For me, there is a HUGE DIFFERENCE between Jag and Maserati...................Jag is not in the same class.

 

[Kennedy]

For me, there is a HUGE DIFFERENCE between Jag and Maserati...................Jag is not in the same class.

Always though they were sort of inline with eachother, don't know much about them. How much different is Jag?

 

[Thai]

Always though they were sort of inline with eachother, don't know much about them. How much different is Jag?

From a heritage point of view, Jag is nothing. In the distant past, Jag may have been top British car producer, but had a crappy quality to them.

NOW, Jag is owned by an Indian firm (ironic, isn't it?). Tata bought them and Land Rover back in 2008. I think that they are still made over in Europe, but heritage is gone.

Maserati is an italian company within a bigger company (Fiat). Ferrari at one point owned (or still a portion of it now) it.

Maseratis have always been on the same class as Ferraris and other exotics. Jag was/is an alternative to Mercedes and BMW (and Lexus to a lesser extent). Not even in the same class level IMO.

(Of course, in my eyes, no matter how good Jag design is nowadays [and it is quite good], the fact that Tata Motors owns it ruins it for me.)