Lexus chief welcomes Japanese rival

Tony Cramb is like the cat that got the cream. The chief executive for Lexus Australia is pretty sure he's on a winner with the new GS, a car that represents a change of pace for the prestige importer most likely to be judged harshly for offering staid and uninspiring models.

Leading up to the launch of the new luxury sedan, Lexus has been conducting at least 12 months of market research locally, and the news hasn't been good. It does however provide the company with a blueprint for future brand management — and product like the new GS will have an important part to play in that.

But is it too little, too late? The German brands of Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are virtually unassailable, Jaguar is pitching some pretty impressive machinery at consumers and there's Infiniti soon to enter the fray. Has Lexus left it too late to be a brand other than trad Lexus?

Earlier in the week, during the local launch of the new GS, motoring.com.au spoke with Cramb concerning the threat posed by Infiniti. Our logic was this: here's a prestige car brand offering Japanese levels of build quality at an affordable price. Why wouldn't buyers consider it a rival to Lexus? Yet Cramb's earlier presentation made no mention of Infiniti among the luxury brand's rivals, so we began the interview with the observation that Infiniti's local MD, Kevin Snell, doesn't admit that Lexus is a competitor to Infiniti either.

"Oh good," Cramb responded with a laugh. "But it's great to have Infiniti come to Australia, because it reinforces the concept that you don't have to be European to present a luxury offering.

"I wish them every success, I really do. They've competed against Lexus in the [United] States for many years and have never really been able to crack it over there. So we're not particularly concerned, but by the same token we welcome them with open arms."

Will consumers be confused by the sudden left turn made by the Lexus brand, now setting out to be a purveyor of dynamically capable and charismatic cars, we asked, and is that change of strategy made more difficult by cleanskin Infiniti entering the country?

"What we're talking about doing is taking advantage of some amazing product that is coming down the pipe, to reinvigorate the brand," Cramb replied. "What Infiniti does, I can't control. What they say, I can't control. How successful they're going to be, in taking on the Germans at their own game, I don't know, right?

"But what I can tell you is what we've got coming and the future of Lexus. From where I sit, it's incredibly exciting. I'll be focused on what we do and how we present our brand... we understand that we've got some work to do in that area, and we'll be focused up on it over the next few years."

Based on the interview Kevin Snell provided motoring.com.au ahead of the Geneva motor show last month, Infiniti wants to be the mouse that roars when it enters the local market. Not only does the company plan to deliver some heartburn to the German brands, but Snell intends to use some Lexus tactics and strategies to do so. Picking up customer cars for servicing, was one example given. This has been one of the central planks of the Lexus customer service strategy since entering the country in 1990, so Cramb's response was understandably frank.

"If I were in Kevin [Snell's] position, I'm not sure I would be trying to out-Lexus Lexus. He's made a statement that they're going to give a customer experience... I'm not exactly sure why you would go down that path, when we've spent 22 years establishing that position. He can do whatever he likes from a marketing point of view. I don't react, from a marketing point of view [and] in terms of creating the brand, to what others do. There's no point in that. What they do doesn't affect who we are."

Cramb offered the Australian Grand Prix as one way in which Lexus and Infiniti are at odds, in respect of their approach to brand management. Lexus provided the cars for the Celebrity Challenge race at the AGP in 2011, when the Lexus CT200h was launched (and the LFA was given its first public showing in Australia). Infiniti's promotional activities at this year's event were relatively low key and based around the company's global sponsorship of the Red Bull F1 team.

"We were there for fun," said Cramb. "We were there to promote a little hybrid car in the most unlikely position and have some fun with some celebrities to race the car."

According to the Lexus boss, it's not going to be all plain sailing for Infiniti, and particularly not in the light of that company's past, when it failed to launch with its Q45 model in the mid 1990s.

"[Snell] has gotta establish himself, and Infiniti have got a long way to come, to move forward," says Cramb. "They did come here once... there will be people that remember, so he will have to overcome that as well. He's got a lot to do."

But Infiniti itself argues that few remember the Q45 or the previous attempt to launch into this market. Does Infiniti therefore have the advantage, coming in as a 'new' brand with a largely unknown image that can be shaped however the importer likes?

"That was what we had 22 years ago," Cramb replied. "I wish him well on the journey, it's a long journey. As good as we are with customers, we're still on that journey.

"My focus, honestly, is the Germans, because that's what we've got to do. I hope he's successful, because it's going to broaden the market. There'll be more for all of us."

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