For Lexus, the United States is undoubtedly its largest market, with a market share of nearly 40%. The second is the Chinese market, which also accounts for 25% of the market. Since Lexus launched ES model last year, this car has achieved very successful sales in the US market. Sales even exceeded the BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz E-Class sedan.
There is, of course, a statistical basis for this. According to data from Jato Dynamics, sales of Lexus ES, BMW 5 Series and Mercedes-Benz e-Class in the United States were 51,336, 38,707 and 25,180 respectively.
However, the real competitors of the 5 Series and E-Class are the rear-wheel-drive Lexus GS, not the front-wheel-drive Lexus ES that shares the platform with Toyota Camry. However, the sales of Lexus GS are not objective, and its future prospects cannot be accurately understood, so Lexus ES is currently being redesigned and positioned to replace GS’ market position.
Lexus' high-level decisions are strategically correct. The basic factors that determine whether consumers buy is product prices and car demand. Most of the time, everyone does not pay special attention to front-wheel drive or rear-wheel drive. And don’t forget that the Audi A6 is also front-wheel-drive and does not affect its popularity.
And because it is a front-wheel drive car, there is no need to install a four-wheel drive device, so the interior space of the Lexus ES car is more spacious than other competitors. American consumers also value Lexus' reliability and high-quality interior settings.
However, in Malaysia, the sales of Lexus ES are not very good, because the tax rules established by our country result in fully imported Lexus cars that are much more expensive than BMW and Mercedes-Benz assembled locally.
However, the price of Lexus ES in Malaysia is not so expensive, the starting price is even lower than the BMW 5 Series. After all, the price of imported cars in Japan is lower than that of assembled cars (with similar performance), which is very rare.
The information mentioned in this article comes from Wapcar, an automotive website for the Malaysia.
