Confirmed Baby-Lexus , but not for U.S.

Lexus is unlikely to launch a model positioned below the IS250 in the United States but that doesn’t mean it won’t develop a new entry-level car for other markets. One possibility is Europe, where premium hatchbacks sell in substantial numbers.

The carmaker’s executive vice president Tokuichi Uranishi has previously hinted that a model positioned below the current IS could be launched to help reach an internal goal of 150,000 sales in Europe by 2015. Now, the managing director for its European division, Tadashi Arashima, has confirmed in an interview with Germany’s WirtschaftsWoche newspaper that Lexus will eventually launch a new compact car.

“We will offer a Lexus in the compact class,” he told reporters, explaining that the company needs “smaller and more efficient vehicles” to meet Europe’s CO2 emissions regulations. He described the car as being a rival to the likes of BMW’s 1-series and Audi’s A3, although he didn’t reveal any exact release date.

Lexus has been selling in cars in Europe since 1990 but it still commands less than 1% of the total market, something Arashima hopes to change with the introduction of a more affordable and more fuel-efficient model.

He also reaffirmed Lexus’ strategy to differentiate itself from its premium rivals by offering more hybrid models. He pointed out that the Lexus, together with Toyota, will sell between 50,000 and 60,000 hybrids this year and is expecting this level to rise to 100,000 by 2010.

Source: motorauthority.com

Share This