Toyota might launch the Lexus brand in India!

Lexus LFA

Nine out of ten people wouldn’t know that Lexus is a high end brand owned by Toyota but then again, this is precisely the biggest advantage that Lexus enjoys, of that of a unique and a very strong brand identity famed for the high luxury and technology it offers. While Toyota is highly regarded in the Indian market for it’s excellent quality and bomb proof reliability, a Toyota badge still has trouble matching the Mercedes Benzs and Audis of this world.

In India too, Lexus has been an iconic brand with movie stars and industrialists being seen in Lexus cars, so much so that the common man now has an inkling of what the Lexus brand is all about, even though it might be lesser than the brand recall BMW or Mercedes Benz enjoys. So then, Lexus could be what Toyota will seek to launch in India even as the Indian luxury car market is growing by leaps and bounds every passing year.

Lexus IS 350 Sedan

And not without a reason has Toyota been voicing it’s concern about the India-EU FTA and that there should be parity in CBU duty structures across regions with no special privilege accorded to certain regions. In a nutshell, Toyota might be actively lobbying for the same reduction in duties for CBU cars imported from Japan and why not? Here’s an inkling of what is to come from the Japanese auto major.

Mr Hiroshi Nakagawa, MD of Toyota Kirloskar Motors, says, ”We are studying, and now more deeply considering to bring Lexus to India” while Mr Sandeep Singh, the Deputy Managing Director of Toyota Kirloskar Motors goes on to say that “Traditionally, Toyota does not share dealer network with Lexus. However, we cannot be too sure about India as it is too early now,” Watch this space!

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