Lexus and Electrification. How will this influence the brand?

[dutchie01]

With electrification of the automotive landscape well under way i was wondering what this could mean for Lexus as a brand.

Throughout the years Lexus spend vast sums on being market leader in NVH, Noise Vibration, Harshness. quiet isolated cabins, humming smooth engines, no vibrations and so on. This became a real thing that was different to most other brands. Then the well know reliability no arguments needed.

And now we see combustion engines being replaced by electric motors. What are advantages of those engines? Silence, NVH, utter reliability to name a few. All of a sudden some of the most unique selling points of Lexus are spread throughout the market and even a little Kia of Peugeot will have them. Will the market become more uniform now like driving fridges? How can a manufacturer set itself apart? BMW is know for its wonderful six in line engines for instance. Now every marque drops EV's doing the same. And now what?  Any Thoughts on this?

 

[doog442]

Its funny you say fridges as I was thinking washing machines. I mean they're electric as well but with more moving parts. In the world of domestic appliances there are certain brands that are known for reliability, Miele for example. I think current standards will remain in the motor Industry with Lexus leading the way in overall reliability. Talking of EV reliability there have been some horror stories in that regard. Tesla for example, someone posted their car had broken down a dozen times. Kia currently have an issue with their EV's catching fire when charging and Audi have had major problems. 

I've test driven a few EV's and they still rattle and roll, road noise / wind noise etc and were noisier than my straight six. That said the talk is also that many people are jumping straight to EV instead of hybrid and this is where Lexus need to catch up across the range. I still think they'll retain the No 1 spot if people actually have a decent Lexus EV range to choose from, with decent tech / Infotainment as the latter is the way things are going.   

[royoftherovers]

Customer Service will assume an even more important aspect if what Bernard has spotted does come true.

Numero Uno is currently Lexus and it must strive to remain so, but there is increasing evidence that some Lexus Franchises standards are dropping. The current high levels of service operated by the smaller Franchises will need to be identified and supported by us, THE CUSTOMER.

[Boxbrownie]

Lexus will be fine, provided they continue to concentrate on interior quality and comfort, and drop the ridiculous Chademo connector they have just launched the UX 300E with and make the range more competitive, they do seem to be a bit behind the line with the first entry.

[Spacewagon52]

Just because it is electric does not automatically mean it is reliable. The initial EV craze will fall off. Toyota are aiming for hydrogen, it just needs the production and infrastructure of the gas to develop. Our homes will be heated with it in the future. I can see many two car households having one EV but not for the main car. With emissions, DPF's etc hybrid is the way forward for the next few years. Just my opinion.

[dutchie01]

When you talk about the engine only there is a massive difference between EV and IC. EV is smaller, lighter and has way less movable parts in it ( average 20 compared to 2000 in an IC) which means less maintenance and less things to go wrong. EV engines seem to keep on going forever unlike the traditional combustion versions.  less maintenance means no oil, no gearbox, no valves, no distribution chains, no nothing. Customer service is all fine but when there is no need to visit your dealer as frequent that will become difficult? Brands like VW and KIA/HYUNDAY give 8 years warranty now and 8 years free maintenance. This might become the standard. I do think dealers, that already are struggling to be profitable will find it increasingly difficult to stay in business. Already now most profit comes from selling liquids like oil, brake/cooling fluid etc. When that disappears and you only sell a car, see it back every 2 yrs for brakes and filters where do you get your profit from?

EV's have become driving computers and that is where it can go wrong. Software and hardware alike. Then overall build quality of course. Without engine noise you hear everything else 10 times over. So Lexus could shine here. Tesla's build quality is rated as mediocre at best. I sincerely think the future competition for Lexus is not coming from Europe or the states, it is from Asia. South Korea but especially China. The speed at which car manufacturers are developing there is mind boggling.

[Spacewagon52]

1 hour ago, dutchie01 said:

When you talk about the engine only there is a massive difference between EV and IC. EV is smaller, lighter and has way less movable parts in it ( average 20 compared to 2000 in an IC) which means less maintenance and less things to go wrong. EV engines seem to keep on going forever unlike the traditional combustion versions.  less maintenance means no oil, no gearbox, no valves, no distribution chains, no nothing. Customer service is all fine but when there is no need to visit your dealer as frequent that will become difficult? Brands like VW and KIA/HYUNDAY give 8 years warranty now and 8 years free maintenance. This might become the standard. I do think dealers, that already are struggling to be profitable will find it increasingly difficult to stay in business. Already now most profit comes from selling liquids like oil, brake/cooling fluid etc. When that disappears and you only sell a car, see it back every 2 yrs for brakes and filters where do you get your profit from?

EV's have become driving computers and that is where it can go wrong. Software and hardware alike. Then overall build quality of course. Without engine noise you hear everything else 10 times over. So Lexus could shine here. Tesla's build quality is rated as mediocre at best. I sincerely think the future competition for Lexus is not coming from Europe or the states, it is from Asia. South Korea but especially China. The speed at which car manufacturers are developing there is mind boggling.

I agree. Regarding reliability, I was not comparing an ICE with an EV motor. My concern was over the electrics. Electrics on cars seem to be the limiting factor regarding keeping them on the road.