21 Sep 01
As expected of a Lexus, the standard IS300 features list is exhaustive. Options run only to pearlescent paint and a new DVD navigation system at £2430, which has squeezed all of Europe onto one DVD. Notable features of the £28,450 SportCross include the automatic gearbox, climate control, leather/electric seats and an in-dash six-CD changer.
Lexus is quick to whip out comparison lists to show that equipping the equivalent BMW, Mercedes or Audi model to the same specification costs £3000-£5000 more. You may want to ponder that the slightly smaller-engined Alfa 156 Sportwagon 2.5 V6 is £8000 less than the Lexus.
After all, this is a car likely to be on company car driver lists, and user-choosers are keenly aware of what kit their monthly allowance gets them. However, the timing of a 3.0-litre model is not fortuitous. In advance of next year's emissions-based company car tax regime, there is a shift out of larger petrol engines and a sales boom in diesels, which score well on the reduced CO2 scale. Even though there are plenty of diesels available from Toyota, the Lexus way is to develop one from scratch to its own standards. So for this generation of IS200/300, a diesel is unlikely. The IS300 SportCross has higher CO2 emissions and slightly less power than most of its rivals.
The cheaper IS200 has proved to be a very desirable car, with rock-solid used values which Lexus has carefully maintained. The company has a UK sales target of just 400 IS300 SportCrosses next year, out of a total of 1400 IS300s. As a reference, Audi expects to sell around 7000 of its A4 Avant range in 2002. The UK is Lexus's second largest market after the USA (it can't make any real dent in the German market) but Lexus GB is not after pushing out vast volumes of cars - at least not yet. It takes years to win over customers from companies with a long heritage.
In advance of the next, broader range of Lexus cars, the gameplan is to start to emulate the extraordinary levels of dealer service seen in the States. UK Lexus dealers may not resort to baking their own fresh muffins like some US ones do, but they might. One innovation we may see next year is mobile Lexus service centres which travel to the nearest point for several customers to have their cars serviced. By the end of this year, there will be 271 UK Lexus dealerships, around half of which are tied to Toyota garages.
