New and Used Car Talk Reviews Hot Cars Comparison Automotive Community

The Largest Car Forum in the Philippines

Results 1 to 5 of 5
  1. Join Date
    Mar 2003
    Posts
    272
    #1


    Lee Kuan Yew's in a Lexus
    By Agence France-Presse



    TOKYO--Toyota, which is expected soon to become the world's largest automaker, has won a new convert: Lee Kuan Yew.

    The founder of modern Singapore confided Thursday that he recently switched from a Mercedes to a Toyota Lexus and said he needed to go less often to a mechanic.

    "I used to use Mercedes. I'm now using Lexus. Why? Because less time loss going to the workshop," the 82-year-old elder statesman told a forum in Tokyo.

    "But why is that? Because Mercedes expanded too fast across the world and now Mercedes is not by German workers only, but also made in Brazil and made in other places," Lee said.

    "So, they have not got the same quality control as Japan has," he told the audience, mostly Japanese businessmen.

    "Your manufacturers in America and Europe somehow maintain that quality control. And you are able to maintain your reputation. So, that's the result of your first class management."

    The Lexus, Toyota's flagship luxury model, was launched in 1989 for the North American market and was later expanded to Europe and other parts of Asia. After confirming its popularity overseas, Toyota launched the sedan in Japan last year.

    Toyota is expected soon to wrest the crown of General Motors as the world's top automaker. It has a global strategy of expanding both in its traditional bases of Japan, North America and Europe and moving beyond to emerging markets.

    The world's most profitable automaker has been spending billions of dollars to boost global production to keep up with record sales as sky-high oil prices drive unprecedented interest in its gas-electric hybrid models.

  2. Join Date
    Oct 2002
    Posts
    9,894
    #2
    hehe...or maybe he's pandering to his audience of tokyo businessmen?


    maaabala kaya siya talaga kung nasa shop yung benz niya? wouldn't his staff just take care of it, and drive him around in another car?

  3. Join Date
    May 2005
    Posts
    4,819
    #3
    political salesmanship at its best

    .

  4. Join Date
    Jan 2006
    Posts
    4,785
    #4
    He could have gotten a BMW... but I guess he has to suck up to the Tokyo businessmen... good for business.

    3 months ago...
    Lexus Sputters at Home

    Toyota rolled out the marque to fend off European competitors in Japan. But so far the results have been less than impressive

    With net profits of $10 billion, double-digit growth in the U.S., and GM's (GM ) spot as the world's biggest automaker in sight, Toyota Motor (TM ) President Katsuaki Watanabe has had little to complain about since succeeding Fujio Cho as the head of the Japanese automaker last June. Yet for all the great strides being taken by Toyota, Watanabe must be at least a little disheartened by the performance of the upmarket Lexus brand in Japan.

    The reason? Since the Lexus marque first went on sale in Japan last August, sales have hardly set the world afire (see BW Online, 7/11/05, "Lexus to the Rescue" . Through Dec. 31, only 10,300 Lexus were sold in Japan -- considerably short of Toyota's target of 20,000. What's more, in 2006 the carmaker is only expecting to sell 40,000 Lexus -- still off the the 50,000-60,000 annual target Toyota had mentioned last year.

    U.S. SUCCESS. "The start of Lexus in Japan was somewhat slower than we had expected," Takeshi Suzuki, senior managing director at Toyota, conceded at Toyota's third-quarter results announcement in Tokyo on Feb. 7. "You should evaluate the Lexus brand on a global basis rather than on how well it is doing in the Japanese market."

    The slow start in Japan stands in contrast to the U.S., where Lexus has been the best-selling luxury car brand for the last six years. In 2005, Toyota sold 302,895 Lexus vehicles in the U.S. This is up 5.8% vs. a year earlier. Moreover, it's the first time a luxury brand had sold 300,000 units since Cadillac achieved that feat in the mid-1980s.

    Yet at home in Japan, imports of German rivals Audi, BMW, and Mercedes-Benz continue to perform well. Together, the three German brands sold more than 106,000 cars in Japan in 2005, a 10% increase, while Japan's overall auto market contracted by 0.9%.

    "PREPARED TO FIGHT." What explains Lexus' troubles at home? One big factor: savvy foreign brands beat Lexus into the market with new models. BMW, for example, launched its remodeled 3-series in Japan ahead of Lexus. Mercedes also came out with several new vehicles during 2005, including the SLK 280 luxury roadster and E280 sedan in August. Both automakers also spruced up their marketing efforts.

    "Mercedes and BMW took advantage of the Lexus launch," says Koji Endo, an analyst at Credit Suisse First Boston (CTN.X ) in Tokyo. "They knew Toyota was launching the Lexus and prepared to fight."

    Perhaps less predictably, foreign automakers say the arrival of Lexus has also enabled them to attract a new class of car buyers in Japan -- those who might not have considered an imported luxury car in the past. "People who went to Toyota showrooms didn't visit BMW showrooms," says Yuichiro Suzuki, a BMW Japan spokesperson in Tokyo.

    WRONG MODELS? But with a little help from Lexus, attitudes are changing. BMW estimates that the number of visitors to its showrooms is up 20% since the rival's launch, and as many Japanese consider foreign brands for the first time. Customers realize that if you spend $45,000 or more, "you can afford an imported car," Suzuki says.

    Toyota's choice of models may also shed some light on the sticky start by Lexus. Analysts point out that just two Lexus models were launched in Japan last August -- the GS sedan and SC convertible -- with the IS sedan added a month later. CSFB's Endo says all three models are too sporty to be big sellers in Japan's luxury sector. A truer evaluation of the Lexus will be possible after the top-of-the-line LS sedan goes on sale later this year.

    Three additional models, including two SUVs, are expected in 2007. "After seeing how the LS does, we'll have a better picture," Endo says.

    "HIGHLY BRAND-CONSCIOUS." Inflated price tags also may have deterred buyers. While the Lexus brand is new to Japan, luxury Toyotas are not. The GS and SC, for example, were previously sold in Japan as the Toyota Aristo and Soarer, respectively. But whereas the old Aristo cost up to around $40,000, the cheapest version of the GS on sale today is about $10,000 extra.

    Of course, much of that premium is explained by higher specs -- Toyota points out that the current GS engines are much larger and more sophisticated than those in the last-generation Aristo. But for that kind of money some buyers will prefer the extra cachet of a European brand.

    "Japanese consumers are highly brand-conscious," says Tatsuo Yoshida, an analyst at Merrill Lynch (MER ) in Tokyo. "If the goal [of Lexus in Japan] is to be a true luxury brand up against European premium brands, it won't be an easy task."

    Nonetheless, Toyota executives don't seem unduly concerned. For one thing, missed targets after less than a half-ear are hardly cause for panic. For another, while Toyota agrees that early sales are disappointing, feedback from buyers has been very positive. And this point has been confirmed by Lexus owners' and auto Web sites.

    NO PANIC YET. One popular price comparison ranks the IS as the sixth-best car in Japan. "We are [making efforts to lay] a solid foundation for the Lexus brand in Japan," Toyota's Suzuki says. "We're below our original [sales] target, but brand recognition, customer satisfaction, and various other indicators are very good for Lexus."

    Clearly, Toyota is preaching patience. And with 15-plus years of Lexus success in the U.S., who would bet against the luxury lineup eventually making its mark at home?
    Last edited by AG4; May 28th, 2006 at 02:14 PM.

  5. Join Date
    Mar 2005
    Posts
    8,837
    #5
    a guy of that stature rides in chauffeured driven limousines.

Lee Kwan Yew...a new fan of Lexus!