New Lexus Sports Car, Emotionally Distinct

Toyota's luxury division has earned reputation for15 mpg and Porsche 911's 18 mpg.
refined and sophisticated luxury sedans and sportsAccording to Toyota's domestic operations manager,
utility vehicles and this reputation will be lifted onceAkio Toyoda, their Lexus division is envisioning to inject
again with its new vehicle, the Lexus IS F. It will belongits reputation some emotion with the IS F more than
to Lexus' line of reliable but elegant family andwhat the LS 430 luxury sedan did.
commuter vehicles."Lexus has long been renowned as a luxury,
The Lexus IS F sports car will go on sale in springhigh-quality brand," he said at the car's unveiling last
causing shakeups with cars of the same platformweek at Fuji Speedway, the automaker's racing circuit
from European premium brands like BMW, Porsche,near Mount Fuji in Japan.
Volvo (makes original Volvo catalytic converter), Audi,"But to be recognized as a true global premium brand,
as well as the American Chevrolet Corvette.we knew we needed more emotional vehicles."
"Lexus doesn't have a 'halo' vehicle, and in the luxuryAs Lexus equipped the IS F with its supercharged
automotive world that's important," said Michaeltechnologies and premium substance, Toyota expects
Robinet, an automotive analyst at consultancy CSMthat the car will give its consumers the peak
Worldwide.satisfaction to raise sales to 7,000 models globally next
"The IS F is a vehicle that won't necessarily drive upyear even with its premium price. According to Paul
Lexus' bottom line, but it will drive traffic to showroomsNewton, Lexus is maintaining a good stand in the auto
and bolster the company's image. Lexus is looking formarket for producing the best luxury cars making the
younger buyers right now, and so they want to makesales target very feasible.
a big splash with this vehicle.""There appears no reason why the brand will not
Starting to gain fame, last week the new Lexusreach its targets based on the styling and early reports
vehicle was featured in the annual Neiman Marcusof its performance," he wrote in a research note,
holiday catalog, the Christmas Book being one of theadding that the model's prospects in Europe and Japan
costliest items on its list. Its tag price of $68,000 comesare less clear.
from its black leather interior, hand-polished wheels and"A sporting halo model cannot harm its somewhat
Special Build Badge.staid image in Europe," he said, but "the brand needs
The BMW 3 Series, Audi RS4 and Porsche 911 willtime to gain traction in Japan, where it has only been
have quite a formidable foe in the Lexus IS F when itpresent for the last three years."
joins its club of performance-tuned sports sedans. SoThe exchange rate of the dollar versus the Euro will
far, it is the fastest production Toyota's luxury divisionhelp Lexus beat the European vehicles which are
has ever built.becoming pricey although European maker resisted
You can mistake the Lexus IS F to be carrying aprice increase.
German DNA with its performance of zero to 60 mph"Now is key time for luxury Asian brands because of
in just a matter of 4.9 seconds. 20 miles per gallon isthe strength of the euro, which is making it hard for the
boasted by its powerful five-liter V8 engine producingluxury European manufacturers," he said. "Any time the
400 horsepower, says its Japanese automaker. For avalue of the dollar falls, import prices rise, and the
sports car, its mileage is already a respectable oneimport manufacturer has to take a haircut on the sales
considering the EPA mileage standards of Audi RS4'smargin to keep the price of the vehicle the same.