Lexus Manila Celebrates First Anniversary

Lexus Manila, Inc. marks its first year of doing business in the Philippine luxury automotive scene this month. Since its brand debut in January 2009, it did not take long for Lexus Manila to make good on Lexus global reputation for production quality and customer satisfaction.

During its first year, Lexus Manila has responded to market trends by offering its customer a fresh option of luxury car line-up. With the opening of its world-class showroom at the heart of Fort Bonifacio Global City last year, Lexus also launched its initial line-up composed of the flagship sedan LS460, ES350, GS460, IS300, and full-size SUV LX570. This was immediately followed by the March introduction of the global best-selling Lexus cross over SUV RX350, and the sporty convertible IS300c in September. By year end, 172 satisfied Lexus customers can attest to the understated elegance of its products and the warm hospitality of its associates. Lexus garnered 13 percent share of the market, quickly climbing to the fourth position. Read more

Lexus Grabs it All at the C! Awards

Lexus took the prime awards in all four categories it was nominated in during the recently concluded C! Awards.

The 5th Annual C! Awards was held on July 15, 2009 amidst glitz and glamour. It was a well-attended event marked by high expectations of car manufacturers to grab the prestigious awards at stake.

Members of the motoring media were present and shared the excitement of the night in anticipation of the announcement of the Best Automobiles for 2009.

LEXUS, despite being the newest entry into the motoring industry, won the highest awards in the four categories where it was nominated in. The LEXUS IS300 was named winner in the Best in Premium Sedan category while the GS460 model was recognized as the best in the Premium Executive Sedan category. Read more

Philippines Still a Budding Market for Luxury Cars

Lexus Manila is cautiously optimistic of sales this year, which marks its official foray into the local luxury-car market.

Hiroyuki Tsuda, Lexus Manila Inc. executive vice president, told a round­table at The Manila Times on Thursday that the global financial crisis would indeed slow down global automotive sales. The luxury-car segment, he said, would not be an exemption, including here in the Philippines, still a budding market for high-end vehicles.

According to Tsuda, Lexus Manila’s sales in the first two months were “a little slow,” as they sold an average of 11 units per month. Read more

Lexus Manila Introduces New Compact SUV to Local Shores

Lexus has unveiled in the market the brand’s global best-seller, the RX350, which the company predicts will dominate the compact luxury SUV segment in the country.

Daniel Isla, president of Lexus Manila Inc., said even before its formal introduction in the Philippines, there had been 20 reservations for the RX350.

“I think we will be able to sell 80 units of the RX350 this year,” Isla said at the launch of the new compact SUV at the Lexus Manila showroom in the Bonifacio Global City on Monday. Read more

Toyota Upbeat on Lexus Sales Despite Crunch

Targeting just 1 percent of the population, Toyota Motor Corp. recently brought in to the Philippines five models of its luxury brand Lexus with a price range of P2.9 million to P8.2 million.

Even with the difficult economic situation, Daniel Isla, president of the newly created Toyota subsidiary Lexus Manila Inc., said the company is confident of doing well in its initial year of operations in the country by selling 200 to 300 units.

“The luxury market will not be severely affected during the financial crisis, not as compared with the volume segment,” Isla told the BusinessMirror at the sidelines of the grand inauguration of the Lexus Manila Inc. facility at the North Bonifacio in Taguig. Read more

Lexus Manila Inaugurates Showroom Amid Economic Uncertainties

The Philippine economy’s much-touted resilience in the face of the global financial crisis was much in evidence last week when Lexus Manila inaugurated its new showroom at the Bonifacio Global City in Taguig.

The three-evening event drew a large crowd of the country’s economic A-list and social gliteratti to the futuristic three-level Yuji Hirata-designed structure that features an atrium garden in the middle of the showroom floor.

Five Lexus models were unveiled at the inauguration, including the IS, ES and GS series sedans; the full-size SUV LX570; and the top of the line LS460L, with a sticker price of nearly P8 million. Still to come in March is the RX09, a smaller SUV that is expected to be the luxury brand’s top seller. Read more

Toyota Philippines to Roll Out Lexus Line by Q1 2009

Toyota Motors Philippines Inc. (TMP) is getting ready to roll its Lexus line of luxury cars by the first quarter of 2009 as it aims to establish a premium foothold in the local luxury vehicle market.

Alfred Ty, vice-chairman of TMP, said the group is dead set on putting up the first Lexus showroom in the Philippines in spite of the ongoing sub-prime crisis in the US, the economic slowdown in the country and soaring prices of oil.

“If everything goes on schedule, we hope to start selling units in the first quarter of next year,” Ty said Read more

Toyota Forms P1-B Firm Lexus Manila

Toyota Motor Philippines Corp. (TMPC), controlled by the family of taipan George S.K. Ty, has ushered in the high-end Lexus brand to the country via the establishment of a P1-billion company called Lexus Manila in line with the Japanese automaker’s global expansion of its luxury division.

Lexus, which has become the highest-selling maker of luxury cars in the United States, is presently sold in 57 countries in Europe, the Middle East, Oceania, Africa and Asia. It was launched in China three years ago, in Malaysia earlier this year and Indonesia only last month. Read more