Toyota to Launch Lexus Cars in India in 2015

Its almost been four years since we have been listening that Toyota would introduce its luxury car brand Lexus in India, but it hasn’t actually happened till now. Now, rumours are floating again that the Japanese automaker could eventually launch the Lexus cars in 2015 in the country. Just so you know, Toyota would also launch the all-new Innova in India in 2016, which it believes, would be a mass volume gainer.

One of the major reasons, we believe, for Toyota to revive its plans of launching premium Lexus cars in India is the unprecedented double digit growth that the luxury car market has witnessed in past couple of years. In 2012, the company was all set to introduce Lexus, but it had to hold back its decision due to sluggish market condition and extremely high import duties. Currently, the luxury car market in India is dominated by the mighty Germans – Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi. In addition, the Tata-owned British luxury marquee Jaguar Land Rover is also doing well in the country over the past couple of years. Mercedes-Benz & Audi both sold over 10,000 cars last year, which shows how the buyers have drifted towards luxury cars in the past 2-3 years or so.

It has been further revealed that Toyota would launch a total of 30 models between 2016 and 2020, which also includes the Lexus range. Last year, at the launch event of Toyota Etios Cross, Naomi Ishii, MD, Toyota India, also confirmed that Lexus cars would, indeed, be launched in India, but he didn’t give a specific timeline. He even went on to say that the company needs to set up assembly plant to avoid 100 percent import duty on Lexus cars. Lexus has an amazing fan following in India among auto enthusiasts, but the fans have been deprived of its cars till date. We believe that it is the right time for Toyota to make a move as almost every luxury automaker is enjoying good growth in India and same might just happen with Lexus or even better, we hope!