Toyota Planning to Introduce Lexus Luxury brand in India
Toyota will be launching the luxury car brand Lexus in India this year. The initial set of cars will include hybrid models like RX 450h compact SUV and GS 450h mid-sized sedan.
Past couple of years have witnessed a tremendous growth in the automotive sector. Be it hatchbacks, SUVs, sedans or the sub-compact categories, all have been more or less successful in the country. Even the luxury segment did not remain untouched, as brands like Mercedes and Audi performed quite well in their respective arenas. Now, observing the potential of the Indian market for sometime, Toyota, the largest passenger carmaker in the world, is preparing to launch its luxury car brand, Lexus, according to a report by NDTV Auto.
The Japanese carmaker will be introducing the brand by this year itself, with the initial phase of releases comprising of hybrid products, coming enroute CBU. The carmaker has been working on this plan for several years and now finally, we will see another luxury brand forging its way through the country. The move can also be seen as a riposte to Hyundai, which has already announced its luxury brand Genesis for the global market. Although, we did catch a glimpse of the same at Auto Expo 2016.
Currently, the luxury car market is dominated by the three German giants, while Jaguar Land Rover is also struggling hard to make its position felt in the market. Talking about the cars in the pipeline, as mentioned initially, Toyota will stick to the hybrid options, so we will be getting the RX 450h, the compact SUV, which will rival BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Merc’s GLC.
Coming to the mechanics, Lexus RX 450h will be powered by a 3.5 litre V6 mill in association with an electric motor. The combined power figure stands at 308bhp, mated to CVT automatic, while the AWD version is also on cards. Other cars to follow the list are GS 450h hybrid sedan - going against BMW 5-series; while Toyota is also planning to take on Mercedes S Class with the top of the line LS600h.
The initial target of Lexus in India will be to sell around 3,500 pieces by the year 2018 and if achieved, the next target will be 5,000 units by 2020. Moreover, we can see non-hybrid models to be launched in the next phase to spruce up these numbers.
Source: NDTV Auto