Why a Lexus after 20 years of German cars?

For years I simply drove the Bavarian German brand as a company car and was happy about it. But now having switched companies, I had to decide on one car that would do it all; drive well, have all the toys, carry the family, all the attendant gear, take us to the snow and the beach and provide the comfortable and totally care-free motoring I’m used to. You can believe that I’ve heard just about every sales pitch in the car game and written a fair few of them myself.

By John Kananghinis

As a self confessed driving enthusiast and gadget freak the choice of a new car after 15 years of working with and for the Bavarian German brand was both a time to be relished and a bit daunting.

For years I simply drove what was allocated to me and, I have to say, was happy about it. Not much to complain about there. Add to that the opportunity to go down to the workshop and pick something that suited my needs for a particular weekend and you had a pretty sweet deal. That is apart from the 18 hour days, six day weeks, constant travelling and endless meetings.

But now having switched to the Swedes as Sales and Marketing Manager For Scania in this part of the world I had to decide on one car that would do it all; drive well, have all the toys, carry the family, all the attendant gear, take us to the snow and the beach and provide the comfortable and totally care-free motoring I’m used to.

You can believe that I’ve heard just about every sales pitch in the car game and written a fair few of them myself. So, when all the puff and nonsense falls off and I looked at the package offered by the new RX 350, complete with the four year warranty and Lexus levels of customer care, it was actually quite an easy decision to take a drive.

The drive sealed the deal.

Lexus was at first derided by the established luxury players in the early 90s now it’s respected and feared and in the USA it’s the leading luxury brand. With good reason.

Now the product line up has grown and I actually found myself considering three models before settling on the new RX.

So, where to now?

Hopefully many years of happy Lexus ownership and now we’re looking at trading my wife’s German car for a Lexus as well.

There are a lot of good products in the luxury car market today but for Lexus the satisfying thing must be that despite the increasing competition the marque has carved out a very strong position and brand identity. One that is sure to see it grown in this market as strongly as it has in the worlds most competitive.



John Kananghinis was formerly Marketing & Communications General Manager for BMW Group Australia. He is currently National Sales and Marketing Manager for Scania Australia.