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Sub-$30,000 model not an option for Lexus

Sub-$30,000 model not an option for Lexus

Viknesh Vijayenthiran August 20th, 2007 Viknesh Vijayenthiran By Viknesh Vijayenthiran Author August 20th, 2007
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December 31st, 1969 Lexus is confident its cars will be perceived as luxury no matter how many units it sells as long as pricing remains above $30,000. The comments come as Lexus prepares to expand its lineup with even more models and battles internal concerns that too much volume may harm its luxury status. To maintain the $30,000 and above price-point, Lexus will develop models based on its current lineup and introduce new high-end cars rather than launch new entry-level cars, reports Automotive News. The IS range will get the new high performance IS-F at the end of the year complete with a 425hp 5.0L V8 and Brembo brakes. This will be followed by a coupe and folding hard-top convertible in 2008 and 2009 respectively. The ES will get a new hybrid option in ’09 as well as a facelift that same year. A new SC430 should arrive in time for the 2009 model year. The car will weigh significantly less than the current model and should get a larger and more powerful 4.6L V8. The car we’ve all been waiting for, the LF-1 supercar (based on the LF-A Concept) will hit showrooms in the first half of next year packing a 500hp V10. Other major models in the pipeline include a new hybrid only car due in 2012, as well as a new seven-seater crossover planned or launch before the end of the decade.
Sub-$30,000 model not an option for Lexus

Sub-$30,000 model not an option for Lexus

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Lexus is confident its cars will be perceived as luxury no matter how many units it sells as long as pricing remains above $30,000. The comments come as Lexus prepares to expand its lineup with even more models and battles internal concerns that too much volume may harm its luxury status.

To maintain the $30,000 and above price-point, Lexus will develop models based on its current lineup and introduce new high-end cars rather than launch new entry-level cars, reports Automotive News. The IS range will get the new high performance IS-F at the end of the year complete with a 425hp 5.0L V8 and Brembo brakes. This will be followed by a coupe and folding hard-top convertible in 2008 and 2009 respectively.

The ES will get a new hybrid option in ’09 as well as a facelift that same year. A new SC430 should arrive in time for the 2009 model year. The car will weigh significantly less than the current model and should get a larger and more powerful 4.6L V8. The car we’ve all been waiting for, the LF-1 supercar (based on the LF-A Concept) will hit showrooms in the first half of next year packing a 500hp V10.

Other major models in the pipeline include a new hybrid only car due in 2012, as well as a new seven-seater crossover planned or launch before the end of the decade.

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Posted in: Lexus, News


Comments (3 total)

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  1. By Eljay #1, Posted: 8/21/2007

    "LF-1"? Is that a confirmed name for the production vehicle? I was so certain it would get a model name using the "F" desgination as the latest prototype had the "F"-badge on it. I thought they might call it something like GT-F,for instance.Well,as hot as that car is they could call it "Cat Puke" and I'd still want one.

  2. By HECTOR #2, Posted: 8/21/2007

    Lexus' concern that too much volume may damage it's exclusivity (luxury and exclusivity are not the same thing) are well founded. Too bad that MB doesn't have the same concern - to them selling cars, any car, even if they have to invent it, to anyone at almost any price is the only thing that matters. In that regard Lexus is - to me - more exclusive than MB and I'd rather buy an LS460 than an S class. Period.

    But Lexus has to understand that it's not the price of your car that makes you exclusive, it's the number of models and the relative number of Lexuses (Lexi?) on the street. MB has like, what?, 146 different models? Lexus must stick to a small number of models to maintain exclusivity.

  3. By Eljay #3, Posted: 8/22/2007

    It's a complex issue;exclusivity and prestige. MB has more model lines and model variations than Lexus.Also,many of them are lower priced than the least expencive Lexus. In addition to that MB has cargo vans and a truck division.Still MB is concidered more prestigious than Lexus by most Europeans who tend to rant on and on about "tradition" and "heritage". Well,Lexus has been around for eighteen years now,and is the product of a car company with a seventy plus year tradition for making every possible effort to build the best,most gratifying cars they can. I'm European and would be very proud to drive a Lexus.

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