Lexus UX to help drive sales record

Sales of small prestige SUV models will see Lexus Australia set a new record in 2019, the car-maker's national boss believes.

Speaking to carsales.com.au this week, Lexus Australia chief executive Scott Thompson said the rise of the compact premium SUV was far from over, its newest UX light SUV joining the small-segment NX to drive sales of close to 10,000 units.

“There’s still growth in that part of the market [small prestige SUV], and based on where the UX sits right now, it will definitely help us to achieve record sales of close to 10,000 sales this year,” said Thompson.

Priced from under $45,000, the UX is Lexus’ smallest and cheapest SUV yet, and has already assisted in drawing new buyers to the brand. In the first few weeks in showrooms, Lexus reported sales of 189 units, the 2.0-litre petrol-powered UX 200 outpacing UX 200h petrol-electric hybrid variants by almost four-to-one.

“We’re using this year as a bit of a test of the market [for the UX], and have brought in every colour, variant and engine option that’s been made available to us,” Thompson explained. “We’re basically giving everything that we can to the Australian consumer to see where the market leads.

“The current plan is – that for at least the next 12 months – the NX will be our number-one seller, but will be closely followed by the UX, which we expect will tally between two and two-and-a-half thousand sales for this year.”

The segment in which the UX – or Urban eXplorer – competes already plays host to a number of prestige rivals. Key competitors include the Audi Q2 (from $41,800), BMW X1 (from $45,900), Infiniti QX30 (from $48,900), Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class (from $44,200), MINI Countryman (from $41,300) and Volvo XC40 (from $44,990).

The UX is a model Lexus has said previously will help break new ground in markets around the globe, and is aimed primarily at younger buyers for whom packaging, technology and safety concerns are front of mind. It’s a mix Thompson said they’ve got right for the Australian market.

“In terms of the packaging, the efficiency and the cost, we believe we’ve got the right options for the UX – we’ve got the mix right,” Thompson concluded.

Lexus has yet to break the five-figure sales mark locally, its previous record of 9028 sales set back in 2016. In 2017 the Japanese prestige car maker sold 8800 units and 8819 examples in 2018.

Last year, Lexus failed to break previous records despite the introduction of new models, falling well behind German competitors Audi (19,416), BMW (23,055) and Mercedes-Benz (32,201). It did, however, manage to outsell British marque Jaguar by more than 6000 units (2679), and beat fellow Japanese prestige brand Infiniti by an impressive 8170 units (649).

The Australian embargo on drive impressions of the Lexus UX lifts at 6am tomorrow (25 January). More information from the model’s international debut can be found here.