Again for those Down under - a good sign that Lexus AU is ramping up advertising

[Mikey]

Hi all,

Was waiting for a flight, and noted in the October Qantas Magazine, that Lexus Australia have an ad for the GX550.

Hopefully, this is a good sign that they are confident of being able to get build allocation for the Australian market, especially given how strong their order book with paid deposits of $5k already is.

 

[Jrox]

Hi all,

Was waiting for a flight, and noted in the October Qantas Magazine, that Lexus Australia have an ad for the GX550.

Hopefully, this is a good sign that they are confident of being able to get build allocation for the Australian market, especially given how strong their order book with paid deposits of $5k already is.

View attachment 4137

I also noticed they are running media adds on Foxtel now before top series on HBO and movies.

 

[spiderjoe]

Curious how popular is Lexus as a brand Down Under? Are they as popular or more popular as the German manufacturers such as BMW, Mercedes Audi?

Over here in the USA, Lexus almost outsells all of the German manufacturers in most categories.

 

[Jrox]

Curious how popular is Lexus as a brand Down Under? Are they as popular or more popular as the German manufacturers such as BMW, Mercedes Audi?

Over here in the USA, Lexus almost outsells all of the German manufacturers in most categories.

It’s interesting, for off roading Toyota tops everything (215k sales in 2023) with 79 series and other land cruisers top purchases for 4x4 but in terms of luxury and reliability. Lexus only sold 8,800 cars in Australia, Mercedes sold 34,000 cars just themselves. 23k for BMW and 22k for Audi.
The low sales from Lexus here means we have limited choice and parts, we don’t even have the same OEM parts in the US like rear boot liners here there is a carpet and no rubber option. (We are relying on good US blokes to help us out with ordering goodies from the US and relaying the orders for us due to lack of international delivery options from Lexus)
The allocation percentage of GX’s has also been low so we are waiting a long time for delivery.

 

[Jrox]

Just to add this Forum has been awesome in helping to bring the Lexus GX community together worldwide and it feels like a big family unit and we help and guide each other. Absolutely brilliant!

 

[Mikey]

It’s interesting, for off roading Toyota tops everything (215k sales in 2023) with 79 series and other land cruisers top purchases for 4x4 but in terms of luxury and reliability. Lexus only sold 8,800 cars in Australia, Mercedes sold 34,000 cars just themselves. 23k for BMW and 22k for Audi.
The low sales from Lexus here means we have limited choice and parts, we don’t even have the same OEM parts in the US like rear boot liners here there is a carpet and no rubber option. (We are relying on good US blokes to help us out with ordering goodies from the US and relaying the orders for us due to lack of international delivery options from Lexus)
The allocation percentage of GX’s has also been low so we are waiting a long time for delivery.

Just to add to this, as a country we are less than 8% the population of the US, and not much smaller in land size. That's a lot of un-paved roads and maybe the love affair for true 4WDs. The RAV4 is likely our most popular car in 2025 and we don't even have the PRIME version.

Interesting, Lexus sales are in the hole last month, no doubt lack of availability. If you want the LX600 in the Twin Turbo Diesel it's like two years wait. Like Jrox said, I can't believe the Lexus dealer accessory options that you have in the US, it's pages of stuff. We'll be lucky to get weather strips, carpet mats, bonnet (hood) protectors ( https://www.lexus.com.au/models/gx/accessories ). Ironic when you consider so many of the 4WD and overland mods are designed in Australia by the likes of ARB.

VFACTS September 2024: Sales slump but hybrids, PHEVs continue to grow | CarExpert

 

[Jrox]

Bang on Mikey!

John R

 

[spiderjoe]

Interesting, thanks for the insights and sorry to hear about the long wait times and lack of OEM accessories. Could also be due to Australia being right hand drive and Toyota/Lexus pushing for higher volumes for US/Canada and other left hand drive markets .. economies of scale?