Lexus, with the intention of competing closely with its auto rivals, let the horses loose. This spring, brace yourself for a powerful new Lexus – the IS-F. Be among the first to witness, how this high-performance sportscar take on German rivals.
The upscale luxury division of Toyota Motor Corp., with its lavish lineup, has inked a reputation for dependable family cars. But the luxury automaker aims to elevate the reputation to another level by launching the supercharged 2008 Lexus IS F sports car taking on European rivals from BMW, Porsche and Audi as well as American muscle cars like the Chevrolet Corvette.
“Lexus doesn’t have a ‘halo’ vehicle, and in the luxury automotive world that’s important,” said Michael Robinet, an automotive analyst at consultancy CSM Worldwide. “[The IS F] is a vehicle that won’t necessarily drive up Lexus’ bottom line, but it will drive traffic to showrooms and bolster the company’s image. Lexus is looking for younger buyers right now, and so they want to make a big splash with this vehicle.”
The new IS F is the fastest production car the automaker has ever manufactured. Matter of fact, the car was designed to take on the BMW 3 Series, Audi RS4 and Porsche 911, among others.
The performance-tuned sports sedan measures up against the German imports when it comes to performance, accelerating from 0 to 60 mph in under 4.9 seconds. According to Toyota, its five-liter, V8 engine is capable of delivering more than 400 horsepower, offering about 20 miles per gallon in Japanese test-driving conditions.
The LS 430 luxury sedan helped Lexus establish its reputation. Now Lexus wants to take the brand a step further and inject some emotion into it, said Toyota’s Executive Vice President Akio Toyoda.
The IS F got a burst of publicity last week when it was featured as one of the costliest items offered in the annual Neiman Marcus holiday catalog, The Christmas Book, divulged MSNBC. For a mere $68,000, well-heeled shoppers can be among the first to own the new car, complete with a black leather interior, hand polished wheels and a sequentially numbered Special Build badge.
“Lexus has long been renowned as a luxury, high-quality brand,” he said at the car’s unveiling last week at Fuji Speedway. “But to be recognized as a true global premium brand, we knew we needed more emotional vehicles.”
The automaker’s initial sales target for the IS F is around 7,000 models for 2008. With its strong position in the American market for premium cars, that objective seems viable for the automaker according to Paul Newton, an analyst at consultancy Global Insight.
“There appears no reason why the brand will not reach its targets based on the styling and early reports of its performance,” said Newton, adding that the model’s prospects in Europe and Japan are less clear. “A sporting halo model cannot harm its somewhat staid image in Europe,” he said, but “the brand needs time to gain traction in Japan, where it has only been present for the last three years.”
“Now is key time for luxury Asian brands because of the strength of the euro, which is making it hard for the luxury European manufacturers,” concluded Robinet. “Any time the value of the dollar falls, import prices rise, and the import manufacturer has to take a haircut on the sales margin to keep the price of the vehicle the same.”
