Poor Toyota and Honda. While the two are struggling to
capture the hearts, minds
and euros of Europeans, the Japanese juggernauts are also having a hard time establishing their own luxury brands in
the Japanese Domestic Market against the likes of German automakers BMW and M-B. The German pair have dominated the
Japanese high-end car segment for years and both saw a growth in Japanese sales of their vehicles during 2005.
(More after the jump)
[Source: Agence France-Presse via
Todayonline.com]
Worse, the Deutschland automakers see Lexus, Acura and possibly Infiniti’s entry into the marketplace
(Nissan launched the Fuga luxury brand in 2004) as an opportunity. According to Setsuya Ito, spokesperson for
DaimlerChrysler Japan, “Lexus brought us a big business chance. With the entrance of Lexus into Japan, the luxury
car market could move into the limelight with more customers becoming aware of our cars as one of their
options.”
Analysts point out that the competition has barely begun. With Lexus, for example, still new
to the market, analysts don’t count on the Germans to necessarily maintain their dominance in the future.