The Indian luxury car market is expanding at a fast rate and big automobile companies are vying for a place in the premium segment for its growth. One such manufacturer is the Japanese auto maker Toyota Motor Corporation. The company is all set ato bring in the car models of its parent company Lexus to India by 2013. The growth of the premium segment in India is evident despite the dismal performance of the automobile industry in 2011.
Increase in disposable income and standard of living in India have increased the demand for luxury models. Toyota Kirloskar Motor India Private Limited is keen on introducing Lexus; however, the exact time is still undecided. Company’s officials were in Japan to discuss about the project. Yukitoshi Funo, Executive Vice-President of Toyota Motor Corporation, said “We have been watching India with keen interest and we are happy to announce that we will bring Lexus to India in 2013.”
Lexus will have a strong and dedicated dealership network in India and most Toyota dealers will also undertake the Lexus brand. The dealers will not have to invest anything more as both the brands need similar components. A stringent process will be followed for allotting dealerships, as the company believes that it is important to deliver quality rather than quantity. Kazuo Ohara, responsible for the Lexus brand worldwide, had paid a visit to India to announce that Lexus will be entering the domestic market, after he conducted a thorough research of dealerships belonging to various brands across the country.
It is expected that the premium LS Saloon and the RX SUV will be among the initial launches of Lexus in the country. These will be followed by the exquisite luxury model, the GS executive, which is expected to give tough competition to the Mercedes E-class and BMW 5-series.
At first the company will introduce the Lexus range of models as completely built units (CBUs). Later, after getting an idea of the domestic market the models could be assembled locally. According to Funo it is important to analyse local manufacturing capacity to understand the competition.
Market survey conducted for the Lexus brand in India has come out with positive results. Funo feels that the customer awareness about Lexus has indeed been astounding. However, the most difficult part is going to be fixing a competitive price for the Indian market. As models will be imported, the biggest drawback will be cost as most of its competitors’ cars are assembled in the country and hence have low price tag. However, the company is hopeful that its appealing cars will become popular irrespective of their cost.
Lexus is considered to be one of the only Japanese automobile brands that can successfully give competition to German makers in the premium segment. Moreover, the company feels that by launching its latest cars, it will be able to pull customers, irrespective of the price quoted.
