When BBA and even Porsche faltered in China, Japanese luxury brand Lexus stood up.
Sales data released by Lexus showed that Lexus China's cumulative sales in 2024 exceeded 180,000 units, achieving positive growth. It also became the only imported luxury car brand to achieve year-on-year positive growth.
November 20, 2024, the 22nd Guangzhou International Automobile Exhibition, LEXUS car booth.
Looking back at Lexus' performance in China over the past three years, in 2021, it hit a record high with sales of 227,000 vehicles. But in 2022, the situation reversed, with sales falling 22.5% year-on-year to 176,000 vehicles, the first decline since Lexus entered the Chinese market. However, in 2023, Lexus stopped falling and rebounded, with a year-on-year increase of 3% to 181,400 vehicles.
Although Lexus has not announced the exact sales figures and growth rate for 2024, it is not difficult to estimate that its sales range is between 181,400 and 190,000 vehicles. Based on the maximum sales of 190,000 vehicles, the increase is about 4.7%.
Of course, Lexus's sales growth against the trend is inseparable from its price adjustment in China in recent years. It took only about two years for Lexus to go from "raising the price by 200,000 yuan" to selling cars at a lower price.
On the Dongchedi App, the terminal price of Lexus ES is 40,000 yuan lower than the suggested price, and the terminal price of Lexus NX is about 60,000 yuan lower than the suggested price. On the Chezhuzhijia App, there are cases where the price of the 2025 ES model has dropped by 80,000 to 90,000 yuan.
However, in comparison, many German and American luxury brands have also adopted a strategy of drastically reducing prices, but their sales have not seen a counter-trend growth. To some extent, this is related to the deep cultural resonance that Lexus has established through the oriental aesthetics over the years.
The change in slogan from "unswerving commitment to pursuit of perfection" to "leading the unseen, exploring the extraordinary" reflects the brand's transformation from the product dimension to the emotional dimension.
Lexus has many marketing cases using aesthetics and emotions, such as the short film "Half of the Afternoon Passed" released in 2020 that shows the affection between three generations, the "Protecting the Light of the City" bookstore support plan, and summer-themed flash events. These activities not only demonstrate its deep understanding and inheritance of oriental family culture, but also trigger the self-perception of ordinary people, leaving a more emotional brand impression in a subtle way.
Lexus likes to explore the relationship between people, cities and nature from the most granular emotional perspective. This humanistic care is consistent with the emotional values in traditional Chinese culture. On the other hand, Lexus incorporates the spirit of oriental aesthetics into product design to provide Asian customers with a unique aesthetic experience. For example, the LS model uses the "Enga" concept derived from traditional oriental architecture as well as traditional crafts such as sashiko embroidery and Japanese paper to create a warm and refined sensory experience. These are all in line with the aesthetic preferences of Chinese users.
However, compared with the "orientalization" in aesthetic culture, Lexus is slightly inferior in the localization of the technological configuration of its products themselves.
As a member of Toyota's China system, FAW Toyota has further developed Toyota's proud HEV technology through localized innovation, creating FAW Toyota's "super hybrid"; on the other hand, GAC Toyota, which has also been deeply rooted in China for 20 years like Lexus, has created the 3X through the "harmony and coexistence" of its Chinese shareholder GAC Group and itself, and can be said to have caught up with the new forces in intelligent electrification.
On the other hand, Lexus is still competing in the market with its RZ pure electric series, which has the same product strength as the "first generation Toyota bZ series". It can be said that the "multiple electrification paths" mentioned by Akio Toyoda are almost all undertaken by the Toyota brand, while Lexus has not yet shown the image of a "higher-end Toyota" in this field.
When the vice president of Toyota Motor said "China is the most important", when Toyota China Chairman Tatsuro Ueda expressed his support for "we will give the Chinese team whatever they want in terms of intelligent electrification", and when Toyota advocated that "only the popularization of environmentally friendly cars can contribute to the environment", Lexus China should give full play to its subjective initiative as it is well versed in Eastern culture, rather than rigidly maintaining its market share in this turbulent internal market.
It’s time to change. Recently, Lexus is going to build an electric car factory in Shanghai. This is the closest thing to the rumor of “Lexus domestic production” in many years, and it is also a great opportunity for it to accelerate its transformation.
As Li Hui becomes the first Chinese general manager in Toyota China's 60-year history, can this old Toyota man, who worked with former president Akio Toyoda at GAC Toyota and served as the Chinese head of Lexus China, help Lexus align with Toyota's localization progress and catch up with the mainstream level in the field of smart electrification? We hope to soon clear up the fog.
