Toyota Opens Lexus Dealerships in Japan

[nullpointer]

Toyota Opens Lexus Dealerships in Japan

Marble flooring, orchids and bowing receptionists welcome customers at the Lexus car dealerships opening Tuesday in Japan, marking the introduction of Toyota's luxury brand in its home market 16 years after the Lexus was rolled out in the United States. ....

[Tsuru]

I was wondering why luxury cars I've always known as being Lexuses back in Europe have Toyota badges in Japan and the shiny new dealership in Nagoya was still shrouded up a few weeks ago, but I guess now I know

[Sarutaro]

Yes, a Lexus RX300 is the same as Toyota Harrier, for example. I think the major sales point with Lexus is not really the car itself but rather everything around it. Salesmen who serve you tea in expensive porcelain, and aftermarket activities, such as picking your car up for service and then returning it for you cleaned and waxed.
If you don't care about this you might as well go for a regular Toyota, I think. Or Nissan, which has made a remarkable turnaround lately.

[Tsuru]

Need I remind you Nissan has been under FG leadership for the last few years?

[Sarutaro]

I talked to a Japanese who claimed that Ferrari's quality has improved since Toyota started producing about 90% of the components in their cars

[Sarutaro]

Need I remind you Nissan has been under FG leadership for the last few years?

Yeah, they hired Carlos Gohsn (or whetever the name is) to fire the excess work-force in Nissan. Let the gaijin to de dirtywork and keep the Japanese face clean.

[Tsuru]

Need I remind you Nissan has been under FG leadership for the last few years?

Yeah, they hired Carlos Gohsn (or whetever the name is) to fire the excess work-force in Nissan. Let the gaijin to de dirtywork and keep the Japanese face clean.

That's not what I meant.... IIRC Nissan is owned by Renault

[Sarutaro]

Need I remind you Nissan has been under FG leadership for the last few years?

Yeah, they hired Carlos Gohsn (or whetever the name is) to fire the excess work-force in Nissan. Let the gaijin to de dirtywork and keep the Japanese face clean.

That's not what I meant.... IIRC Nissan is owned by Renault

Yes, I know. Carlos' got quite a big fan base among the public here in Japan. Almost like a hero. The Japanese may discriminate the average FG but hold an enormous admiration for the gaijin elites.

[IkemenTommy]

I talked to a Japanese who claimed that Ferrari's quality has improved since Toyota started producing about 90% of the components in their cars

Uhh.. since when?
The last time I watched F1, Toyota and Ferrari were competing in different teams..
If Ferrari was built by Toyota, I don't think they would break down as much. Maybe what he meant to say was that Toyota owns a huge chunk of Ferrari stock shares.

[Mulboyne]

BusinessWeek: Lexus Sputters at Home

With net profits of $10 billion, double-digit growth in the U.S., and GM's spot as the world's biggest automaker in sight, Toyota Motor President Katsuaki Watanabe has had little to complain about since succeeding Fujio Cho as the head of the Japanese automaker last June. Yet for all the great strides being taken by Toyota, Watanabe must be at least a little disheartened by the performance of the upmarket Lexus brand in Japan. The reason? Since the Lexus marque first went on sale in Japan last August, sales have hardly set the world afire (see BW Online, 7/11/05, "Lexus to the Rescue"). Through Dec. 31, only 10,300 Lexus were sold in Japan -- considerably short of Toyota's target of 20,000. What's more, in 2006 the carmaker is only expecting to sell 40,000 Lexus -- still off the the 50,000-60,000 annual target Toyota had mentioned last year...more...

[Kuang_Grade]

The Samurai Sell: Lexus Dealers Bow To Move Swank Cars
In Japan, Toyota Revives Ancient Hospitality Rites,
But Some Buyers Balk
By AMY CHOZICK

Wall Streeet Journal July 9, 2007; Page A1
TOKYO -- Kengo Kubo, a sales consultant who sells Lexus cars in Tokyo, has a special way of opening a car door. He points with all five fingers to the handle, right hand followed by left. Then, he gracefully opens the door with both hands, in the same way Japanese samurais in the 14th century would have opened a sliding screen door.

"The most important thing is to make the motion look beautiful," says Mr. Kubo, standing in a gleaming Lexus show room with live orchids growing out of trickling waterfalls.

The screen-door technique is part of an unusual tactic under way in Japan's luxury-car wars. No. 1 car maker Toyota, behind in the luxury market, wants to fight back by plunging deep into the world of ancient Japanese hospitality traditions.

At Lexus showrooms, sales consultants lean five to 10 degrees forward and assume a warrior's "waiting position" when a customer is looking at a car. When serving customers coffee or tea, employees must kneel on the floor with both feet together and both knees on the ground. The coffee cup must never make a noise when it is placed on the table.

Toyota controls nearly 45% of Japan's passenger-car market, but it is overshadowed by European brands when it comes to luxury cars. Japan's two market leaders, BMW and DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes Benz, together sold nearly four times the number of cars as Lexus did in Japan last year, according to CSM Worldwide, an auto-industry consulting firm.

In 2005 when Toyota launched Lexus in Japan, it was already the best-selling luxury brand in the U.S. But in Japan, it had very little name recognition. The company wanted a way to set Lexus apart from the Toyota brand. So it decided to offer a flavor of customer service that would be difficult for its European rivals to match.

"Japan has a long and isolated history with lots of unique customs. We figured we could bring that to the Lexus brand," says Takeshi Yoshida, a managing officer at Lexus.

In early 2003, Toyota approached several etiquette schools that specialize in teaching the art of beautifying daily behavior, including the correct way to bow, hold chopsticks and sit on a tatami mat floor. The company asked the schools to tweak their techniques so that they applied to selling cars. Most snubbed Toyota's request.

But the Ogasawara Ryu Reihou institute, in Tokyo, agreed to work with the car maker. The institute's teachings have been passed down through the family since the 1300s. Typical clients are well-bred families who want their children to learn good table manners and posture. The institute also advises mourners on the correct way to behave at Japanese funerals.

Keishosai Ogasawara, the hereditary master of the school, says she saw the Toyota job as an opportunity to spread the teachings to a wider audience. She and her team of etiquette teachers spent months studying the Lexus situation.

The result was a set of instructions and diagrams. The etiquette experts determined that a salesperson should stand about two arms' lengths from customers when they are looking at a car and come in closer when closing a deal. They decided that a salesperson should bow more deeply to a customer who has purchased a car than a casual window shopper. When standing idly Lexus employees must place their left hand over their right with fingers together and thumbs interlocked, a posture originally designed for samurais to show that they were not about to draw their swords.

"It might seem too strict, but each manner has a good reason behind it," says Ms. Ogasawara, who inherited her position a decade ago when her great uncle passed away.

All Lexus employees, from repairmen to showroom managers, learn these and other rules during a three-day training course at the Fuji Lexus College, a fortresslike facility perched on the side of snow-covered Mount Fuji. At a recent class, students held mirrors up to their faces to practice the "Lexus Face," a peaceful Ogasawara-style, closed-mouth smile said to put customers at ease.

"The Japanese aren't so good at smiling so we need to practice this one a lot," said Kiyotaka Koyama, the dignified gray-haired director of the college.

Hiroshi Mase, 58, says he was initially impressed by the service he received during a recent visit to a dealership in Yokohama. The technology-company executive loved being served tea and cake as if he were a celebrity.

But he says it became overbearing when he went to pick up his new Lexus GS hybrid, and a sales associate gave him a bouquet and held a formal ceremony to hand over the key. A photo of Mr. Mase with his new car and the showroom's staff was framed and presented to him.

"It was just too much," says Mr. Mase.

Lexus sales in Japan have gotten off to a slow start. Last year, Toyota sold about 31,000 Lexus vehicles -- just half of what analysts had projected. Toyota says it takes a long time to establish a new luxury brand and that it is gradually laying the foundation for long-term growth. Part of the problem is that Toyota has never been associated with luxury in Japan.

Toyota officials say they're hoping to invigorate sales by putting an even bigger emphasis on the Ogasawara method. The company is sending employees for refresher courses and some dealerships are offering flower arranging classes and traditional tea ceremonies in stores.

Marketing materials now tout its more than 160 spotless showrooms, which feature marble floors and lounges with leather couches. In contrast, European car makers have small showrooms in Tokyo, where real estate is expensive, and rely more on house visits to sell their upscale models.

Some Lexus employees say learning traditional etiquette was overwhelming at first. Yuka Miyazaki, 24, a Lexus sales consultant in Tokyo, says it took time, but she eventually became so accustomed to the manners she sometimes can't shake them when she goes out. "I was at a coffee shop with friends the other night," says Ms. Miyazaki. "And I bowed with both hands crossed at the waitress."

Ms. Ogasawara says that in the past year, new employees at smaller showrooms have complained that there isn't enough space around tables to kneel on both knees to serve a customer. But they don't want to be rude and serve a customer while standing up.

Lexus acknowledges that the Ogasawara method has some drawbacks. "Perceiving customers and realizing when they want to be left alone is something we have to work on," says Takeshi Kasuga, assistant manager in human resources at Lexus.


LEXUS RULES OF ETIQUETTE

● The Warrior's 'Waiting Position': Lean five to 10 degrees forward when a customer is looking at a car.
● When serving coffee or tea, kneel on the floor with both feet together and both knees on the ground.
● Bow more deeply to a customer who buys a car than one who is window shopping.
● Practice the 'Lexus Face,' a closed-mouth smile said to put customers at ease.
● Stand with left hand over right, fingers together and thumbs interlocked, as the samurais did to show they were not about to draw their swords.

[Mulboyne]

[Mulboyne]

Since Toyota can't sell the Lexus to Japanese in Japan, it seems they've decided to go with the FGs:

Asahi: Lexus showroom targets rich expats

Toyota Motor Corp. today will open a showroom exclusively for its high-end Lexus brand in Tokyo's plush Aoyama district, home to many foreign expatriates and executives. The company said it hoped to boost business among non-Japanese residents. Staff at the Lexus International Gallery Aoyama will speak English, Chinese and several other languages and provide information on owning a car in Japan, including Japanese traffic regulations and how to obtain a driver's license.