Paper of Marketing
Marketing in Action Case: Real Choices AT lexus
Summary
In 1983 at a top-secret meeting, Toyota chairman Eiji Toyoda suggested that the time was right for Toyota to introduce a true luxury automobile that would challenge the best luxury vehicles in the world. A 6-year development process followed that involved 60 designers and 450 prototypes at a cost of over $1 billion. In 1989 the Lexus was launched. In 1999, Lexus sold its millionth car in the United States and within a little over a decade, Lexus became America’s best selling line of luxury vehicles. Following its success in the United States, Toyota introduced the Lexus in markets outside America, and today the luxury cars are available in over 40 different countries. Since its introduction, the Lexus has repeatedly won top awards and accolades for customer satisfaction, dependability, appeal, design, and engineering from the Motoring Press Association, J.D. Power and Associates studies, The Robb Report, Popular Science, Car and Driver, Popular Mechanics, Automobile Magazine, and Motor Trend.
Such attention to providing the best for luxury car owners has led to Lexus’s latest innovation: the Advanced Parking Guidance System. Most consumers find parallel parking a real pain, or worse, they simply avoid parallel parking spaces altogether. Enter the 2007 Lexus LS 460 sedan. The car actually parks itself—or almost.
The question many observers ask is whether the parking capability of the Lexus is truly a benefit luxury car owners want and will use—or is it just a gimmick? And, were customers really asking for this feature? Some argue that the Lexus automatic parking capability isn’t really useful and that Lexus should have waited to introduce the feature until the company had worked out all the kinks in the system. Has Lexus stepped away from its focus on customer needs and if so, what should the company do now?
1. What is the decision facing Lexus?
2. What factors are important in
Summary
In 1983 at a top-secret meeting, Toyota chairman Eiji Toyoda suggested that the time was right for Toyota to introduce a true luxury automobile that would challenge the best luxury vehicles in the world. A 6-year development process followed that involved 60 designers and 450 prototypes at a cost of over $1 billion. In 1989 the Lexus was launched. In 1999, Lexus sold its millionth car in the United States and within a little over a decade, Lexus became America’s best selling line of luxury vehicles. Following its success in the United States, Toyota introduced the Lexus in markets outside America, and today the luxury cars are available in over 40 different countries. Since its introduction, the Lexus has repeatedly won top awards and accolades for customer satisfaction, dependability, appeal, design, and engineering from the Motoring Press Association, J.D. Power and Associates studies, The Robb Report, Popular Science, Car and Driver, Popular Mechanics, Automobile Magazine, and Motor Trend.
Such attention to providing the best for luxury car owners has led to Lexus’s latest innovation: the Advanced Parking Guidance System. Most consumers find parallel parking a real pain, or worse, they simply avoid parallel parking spaces altogether. Enter the 2007 Lexus LS 460 sedan. The car actually parks itself—or almost.
The question many observers ask is whether the parking capability of the Lexus is truly a benefit luxury car owners want and will use—or is it just a gimmick? And, were customers really asking for this feature? Some argue that the Lexus automatic parking capability isn’t really useful and that Lexus should have waited to introduce the feature until the company had worked out all the kinks in the system. Has Lexus stepped away from its focus on customer needs and if so, what should the company do now?
1. What is the decision facing Lexus?
2. What factors are important in