Lexus wants GS F for Oz

Lexus Australia Chief Executive Sean Hanley is determined that the company's GS F sports sedan will be sold in Australia, where the Japanese luxury brand appears increasingly likely to join V8 Supercars with its RC F coupe.

There's a little hurdle to overcome though – Lexus must first commit to building the GS F, which was revealed in Detroit last month.

"We don't have a confirmed launch date yet," Hanley told motoring.com.au during the local launch yesterday of the new NX 200t. "I can assure you that if that car's made available we'll take it to this market.

"It fits back in, well and truly, into the continuation of 'F' and 'F Sport'."

Asked for a rough timeframe for local launch of the car, Hanley volunteered: "I'd love to have it early next year..."

But the local Lexus boss reiterated that he had no confirmation for the GS F yet.

As we reported previously, the car develops 348kW and 527Nm, which is a lower output than the RC F – due here next week – to say nothing of its shortfall against the 400kW+ peak power rating for the BMW M5 and Mercedes E 63 AMG. It places the GS F at a considerable disadvantage against the German cars and even the locally-built HSV GTS.

But if priced right, the GS F might establish a niche for itself below the two prestige cars – and as a sort of semi-affordable successor to the HSV once local manufacturing ends.

Hanley doesn't spell it out quite as boldly as this, but he intimates the company plans to capture cashed-up HSV and FPV owners down the track. The GS F and RC F would be cornerstones of this strategy, and a possible entry in V8 Supercars via the RC F coupe – a decision expected within about 12 months – would support the marketing strategy for the brand and the two performance models.

Lexus took a step closer to V8 Supercars today, when it announced it the RC F will become the category's official safety car, supported by an IS 350 F Sport medical car and GS 350 F Sport course car.

A 'step-up audience' would be recruited to the Lexus cause through the prestige brand's involvement in V8SC – possibly subsequent to the imposition of Gen II technical rules in 2017. Hanley is clearly a fan of the category, although he's not letting on whether Lexus will definitely be a new entrant in the future.

Like Volvo, Lexus would be a prestige brand building its performance car image through the motorsport category. Hanley is not deterred by the divided opinion centred on Volvo's ability to translate racetrack success to sales growth. He sees motorsport as a brand-building exercise rather than a sales tool.

"The old 'win on Sunday, buy on Monday'? I don't think so. However... whatever that [motorsport category] may be, I would look at that as an opportunity to present the performance credentials of the 'new Lexus'."

Hanley seems thoroughly convinced that V8SC could provide a great pool of Lexus fans – despite the perception the category draws a downmarket crowd, and that could conceivably be damaging to the Lexus brand.

"Your biggest [motorsport] audience actually are those people that are currently in what we call mainstream brands, who may be looking to step up to luxury. I want to introduce – potentially – Lexus to those people. Motorsport may provide that opportunity to present the Lexus brand to that step-up audience.

"I respect – absolutely – in the V8 Supercars, the Holden and Ford tradition. I grew up with it. I think they've done a great job."

It seems counter-intuitive that prestige buyers would follow the 'taxi' category, with its attendant 'bogan' hangers-on.

"It's changing," Hanley argues. "I use this term 'democratisation of luxury'. Everyone just needs to understand that there's no boundaries in luxury; I don't see the people that watch motorsport as any different to anyone else that I'd like to present the Lexus brand to. In fact, I see them very much as... those people who are growing the luxury market now.

"There's no demarcation of who's luxury and who's not in my world."