After false start, Lexus to make India debut...
New Delhi: Lexus, the luxury brand from Toyota, is finally set for a date with Indian roads after having called off similar plans earlier. By the end of this year, the company will make a debut with hybrid vehicles — a sedan and an SUV — and possibly a sports coupe.
Bookings for the brand — which will compete with companies such as BMW, Mercedes and Audi — will begin before the year-end. Deliveries are also planned around the same time and the cars will be imported here as fully-built units, sources said. The cars will be retailed through exclusive outlets and these will be in Mumbai and Delhi to begin with, a source said.
Toyota has been toying with the idea of driving the Lexus into India since 2011, but could never do so, postponing the plans over a variety of reasons, including the slowdown in the luxury market which remains limited in volumes at around 30,000-35,000 units annually.
"Preparations have been made and dealerships are set to roll out the cars. These will be individual Lexus outlets and there will be no front-facing linkages with Toyota," the source said. Lexus has been growing rapidly across key markets such as the US, Europe and China and sells more cars than Jaguar and Land Rover annually. It accounted for global sales of 6.5 lakh units last year, and in the US, the brand was placed second, trailing BMW by only a few thousand units.
The cars being planned for India include a hybrid version of the 'RX' SUV series which could compete with models such as BMW X3 and the Audi Q5. Also planned is the Lexus ES sedan, originally built on the popular Camry's platform, and here too the company plans to get in a hybrid variant. These could be priced below Rs 1 crore. The RC-F coupe is expected to cost upwards of a crore when launched.
"Lexus is a strong brand globally, and we feel India will be no different," a company official said. Asked about plans to assemble the cars locally, the source said, "It is too early to speak on this. We have to first understand the market and look at the response here."
The market for premium cars in India has not really peaked, and is a little over 1% of the overall passenger vehicle market. There are expectations that it will grow in size, though numbers will still be small when compared to markets such as China and the US.
After false start, Lexus to make India debut - Times of India
New Delhi: Lexus, the luxury brand from Toyota, is finally set for a date with Indian roads after having called off similar plans earlier. By the end of this year, the company will make a debut with hybrid vehicles — a sedan and an SUV — and possibly a sports coupe.
Bookings for the brand — which will compete with companies such as BMW, Mercedes and Audi — will begin before the year-end. Deliveries are also planned around the same time and the cars will be imported here as fully-built units, sources said. The cars will be retailed through exclusive outlets and these will be in Mumbai and Delhi to begin with, a source said.
Toyota has been toying with the idea of driving the Lexus into India since 2011, but could never do so, postponing the plans over a variety of reasons, including the slowdown in the luxury market which remains limited in volumes at around 30,000-35,000 units annually.
"Preparations have been made and dealerships are set to roll out the cars. These will be individual Lexus outlets and there will be no front-facing linkages with Toyota," the source said. Lexus has been growing rapidly across key markets such as the US, Europe and China and sells more cars than Jaguar and Land Rover annually. It accounted for global sales of 6.5 lakh units last year, and in the US, the brand was placed second, trailing BMW by only a few thousand units.
The cars being planned for India include a hybrid version of the 'RX' SUV series which could compete with models such as BMW X3 and the Audi Q5. Also planned is the Lexus ES sedan, originally built on the popular Camry's platform, and here too the company plans to get in a hybrid variant. These could be priced below Rs 1 crore. The RC-F coupe is expected to cost upwards of a crore when launched.
"Lexus is a strong brand globally, and we feel India will be no different," a company official said. Asked about plans to assemble the cars locally, the source said, "It is too early to speak on this. We have to first understand the market and look at the response here."
The market for premium cars in India has not really peaked, and is a little over 1% of the overall passenger vehicle market. There are expectations that it will grow in size, though numbers will still be small when compared to markets such as China and the US.
After false start, Lexus to make India debut - Times of India
