Lexus NX in South Africa 2015
One must applaud Lexus’s honesty, accepting that their future designs will polarise opinion and that ‘they’re not for everyone.‘ The brand, now 25-years old, has tried to emulate the other luxury carmakers; they’ve hired competitors’ staff and tried to mimic the design with mixed results. Well no more.
The concept LF-SA shown at Geneva received lots of attention for its angular styling and the brand believes the controversial styling could be key to future success. It is a similar case with the Lexus NX – now in South Africa – which has shaken things up and got people talking.
European Boss Alain Uyttenhoven adds that if the brand wants to achieve 100 000 sales in Europe it must take a bold design direction. “What we’ve decided is that because we are the challenger, we have to be different. We have to be distinctive, be bold and produce car+s that don’t look like the other offerings in the segment. What we know, from customer clinics, is that our design polarises at the moment. And we want that. Take the NX. It’s probably our most polarising model, but we have 80% conquest with it, and people say they’re coming to the car because of the design. And that’s the point: design is one of the main reasons why people switch from one brand to another.”
So expect the verbose styling to continue. For now models like the NX look absolutely brilliant but some (us) do wonder if we’ll feel the same about them in ten years’ time.
