Lexus seeks design edge over premium rivals

hotmail, I did some reading on my own and I found that steering / handling is something critics praise. Rather, they say that the turbocharged BMW 535i is more responsive in terms of acceleration.

http://usnews.rankingsandreviews.com/cars-trucks/Lexus_GS/Performance/

If you could please provide one link from "all the auto publications" which proves contrary to the above, I'd much appreciate it.

The grill has a distinctive character, it will mature over time, so keep it! It will win and lose customers, that is life but important thing is to develop a design strategy and stick to it and develop it, flip-flopping would be a no-no! Lexus has been quite good at maintain a relatively good design development strategy where you can follow a one generation to others, unlike most Japanese car designs, even signature elements such as grills. Japan has great designers but the problem is that large corporations are filled with mediocre managers who think they should have a say in design than recruiting the correct design talent

It'll be interesting to see if that ugly grille turns out to be the design edge the designers hope it is.

Lexus and the Lexus drove better in every way, and if your a mechanic youll understand just how easy Toyotas are to work on

Sure, that's because they use old technology perfected over many many years. They never change their platform, try something bold or new. For instance, Toyota stuck with the old 4 speed automatic gears, even up to last year, when everyone had moved over to 6 speeds - ten years ago. Of course if you have twenty years to perfect the same old platform, then you're going to have less problems. But no wonder they drive like crap. Lexus is just another glamorized Toyota Camry (yuck). If you read all the auto publications, nobody puts Lexus on equal footings with the Germans in terms of ride, handling, power, brand recognition, reputation, and luxury.

And Lexus doesn't drive like the true luxury cars from Germany well ive owned a E430 MB and a Lexus and the Lexus drove better in every way, and if your a mechanic youll understand just how easy Toyotas are to work on compared to the MB BMW equivalents. my father in law (Japanese) was a true MB fan owned over 6 different models, bought a Lexus SC430 said the interiors are slightly more luxury in the MB but the Lexus drives heaps better, quieter and more fuel efficent than the MB, but hey when your paying a premium price for a MB you have to find some BS reasons to say its superior.

yeah thats why Lexus is #3 in the US market with 16.1% just behind MB 17.1% and BMW 17.6%

That's because Lexus is not really a true luxury car. They're competing more with mass market cars like VW. If I wanted true luxury, it's BMW, MB, and Audi.

they regularly top in the reliability/quality department without the premium prices of BMW and MB

And Lexus doesn't drive like the true luxury cars from Germany. Toyota's and Lexus have a very good reason why they drive like crap, yet are considered less problematic. That's because they never change their base technology for decades and decades. Of course when you have decades to perfect the car and tweak it to fix all the problems you find, you're going to get better reliability on paper. But that comes with a cost - lack of innovation, older technology, and bad driving dynamics that are demanded in the luxury segment. If I wanted to drive a fridge, I'd drive the Lexus. But if I wanted a true luxury which to brag about, it's MB, BMW, and Audi.

Hahaha, Lexus is not a rival to Audi, BMW and Merc.. VW Passat, maybe, but not the other three brands ... yeah thats why Lexus is #3 in the US market with 16.1% just behind MB 17.1% and BMW 17.6% . and they regularly top in the reliability/quality department without the premium prices of BMW and MB

The grille is so ugly I just decided not to buy a Lexus.

@sighclops Oil prices sure play a role. But space not so, at least outside of towns. Wide roads, wide parking spaces (everybody was actually driving forward into the parking lot and than backing out, opposite of what you see in Japan where the space between the parking rows is narrower. Oil prices in Germany are crazy. Depending on the day of week and time, the price can be between 1,33 and 1,45 Euro! @Samurai Blue Of course inside big towns, were more people have only one car the % will look quite different. But I was really surprised by the many VW and the no-show of Japanese cars beside SUV. 30 years ago, Japanese cars where cheap, but not so high quality, rust especially. Nowadays the quality has improved, but are they still significantly cheaper than VW etc? Skoda is made in eastern countries, but owned by VW. And my sister's Mercedes van (cheaper than VW) was actually produced in South Africa or so.

Lexus make some prtty good cars. Easily can rival some of the german brands.

Seawolf

Another fantacy by the Urinari Koreans. Hondai,,, ooops sorry Hyundai only produces 405 thousand units within European manufacturing facility(Czech &Turkey) as of 2013. Japanese manufacturers had exported 936,496 units the same year not including the ones manufactured in EU region. There is a 10% on all imported cars into EU so demand for cars for domestically built cars will be higher then imported cars.

On top the amount of Hondai,,,, my bad Hyundai has slipped last year with on 303,000 units in the first half. Basically there is no way Hondai has more presence then Japanese cars.

@Seawolf

Interesting post. The reason why there's a lack of 7-seaters is 1 - space - and 2 - because oil prices in Europe are exorbitant. That's why basically every car is diesel - even the light compact cars. The turbo diesels are seriously amazing, so it's easy to see why hybrids are still a hard sell. Also, Hyundai & Kia's design teams are headed by Europeans, so they cater more to local tastes. The new Hyundais & Kias are very good looking cars (still doubt I'd buy either brand, though).

Just came back from German countryside vacation. Japanese cars are totally absent from the roads there. Main brand is VW, followed by Mercedes and Audi. If you want a cheap car you have so many choices nowadays in Europe with Hyundai, Kia, Skoda followed by Renault and Peugeot etc. Not sure about Japanese cars pricing, but I don't see much reasons to buy one. Only segment I saw them was SUV, Mitsubishi especially. What surprised me as well was the low numbers of 7-seaters. Maybe because of the lack of cheap K-cars and the need for 2 cars per household it would be too expensive?

The Celsiors, Soarers and Mark II's of the early to mid-90's had good styling all around but then Toyota fell off. The Lexus is nice but not really eye catching. The grille is OK.

Hahaha, Lexus is not a rival to Audi, BMW and Merc.. VW Passat, maybe, but not the other three brands ...

I think the Chrysler 300's grille is the least attractive one I've ever seen. It would keep me from buying one. The Lexus grille looks good on the sportier models, I think.

Hands down the ugliest, most uselessly aggressive-looking front end I've ever seen on a line of luxury cars...

So welcome after decades of bland anonymity.