Toyota’s luxury brand Lexus will soon be welcomed into the Malaysian market.
The brand has been around for only about 17 years. In 2005, it sold more vehicles in the United States than any other luxury competitor, foreign or domestic, a total of 302,895 units, says the Business Times. And, according to the paper, Lexus has been the number one selling luxury brand in the United States for the past six years.
Lexus vehicles are manufactured in Japan and Canada.
In Asia in such countries as Taiwan, Korea, Singapore, Thailand and Brunei, Lexus has grabbed an average of 20 percent share of the luxury car market in 2005. Now distributor UMW Toyota Motor Sdn Bhd will be debuting two models in Malaysia including its flagship, the LS-400. The plan is to break the Mercedes-Benz and BMW dominance of the local luxury car market.
Our take? The German brands must be glancing a nervous eye behind them.