A total of 10 million luxury cars have been sold by Toyota Motor Corp. under the Lexus brand name in the 30 years since the automaker first began marketing it.
However, the world's high-value car market has been dominated by the so-called "German three" -- Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi AG. To narrow the gap, Toyota Motor must ensure that Lexus-brand models carve out their own distinctive image, not just boast high fuel efficiency.
By region, Lexus-brand cars have sold 6.54 million units in North America, accounting for 60 percent of the total. This is followed by 980,000 in China, 870,000 in Europe and 540,000 in Japan.
The RX sport utility vehicle (SUV) has sold the most at 2.86 million units, followed by the ES sedan at 2.29 million.
Lexus-brand cars were first marketed in the United States in 1989, a time when U.S. consumers largely viewed Japanese cars as low-end models for the general public. To sell highly profitable luxury cars in that market, Toyota needed to foster a new brand there.
The first-generation LS400 was marketed in the United States in 1989, and the next year, the model ranked No. 1 in a quality survey conducted by a U.S. research firm. Lexus is still highly acclaimed in the U.S. market.
In 1989, Nissan Motor Co. established a new brand called Infiniti. It has been promoting Infiniti-brand car sales, using Hong Kong as a base. Nissan Motor intends to market an Infiniti-brand electric vehicle in 2021, the first EV model under that brand, in a bid to boost its sales momentum.
Honda Motor Co. preceded Toyota and Nissan in the overseas sale of luxury cars. It started marketing high-value cars under the Acura brand in 1986. At present, the carmaker sells a total of six Acura-brand models, including sedan, SUV and sports types, in the United States, China and elsewhere.
According to the Japan Automobile Importers Association (JAIA), imported cars have sold more than 300,000 units in Japan for two consecutive years, starting in 2017. The figure stood at 309,405 in 2018, marking the second-largest figure in the domestic imported car market.
In Japan, luxury cars are said to be associated with German models. Nissan and Honda do not sell cars under their respective luxury brands in the domestic market, while Lexus-brand models are rather briskly selling in Japan, as shown by their sales volume exceeding that of BMW imports in 2018.
However, German cars have an overwhelming presence in the world's high-value car market. New car sales in the global market reached 2.31 million units for Mercedes-Benz in 2018, followed by BMW at 2.12 million and by Audi at 1.81 million. Lexus-brand models sold 698,000 units, with the figure for Infiniti standing at 230,000.
Japanese car manufacturers have long used their models' fuel economy performance to increase the strength of their brands. But luxury cars must possess value-added features other than fuel efficiency.
"To compete with foreign rivals, [domestic carmakers] need to further improve their innovative qualities and seek greater excellence in their design," automobile critic Hideaki Kataoka said.
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