Analyzing The Appeal of Toyota Lexus' Vehicles on Canadian Drivers

Toyota’s Lexus luxury line of vehicles continues to make waves in Canada. Just what makes this car brand so appealing to local consumers? It seems this Japanese car is carving a serious niche in the Canadian market.

Lexus has several types of vehicles:

• Sedans (Lexus IS, Lexus ES, Lexus ES Hybrid, and Lexus ES GS)
• Sports utility vehicles (SUVs which include the Lexus NX, Lexus NX Hybrid, Lexus RX, and Lexus RX Hybrid)
• Coupes (Lexus RC, Lexus RC F, Lexus LC, and Lexus LC Hybrid)
• Performance vehicles (Lexus RC F, Lexus GS F, Lexus LC, and Lexus LC Hybrid)
• Future vehicles (Lexus ES, Lexus UX, Lexus LF-1 Limitless, and Lexus FC)

The vehicles cost anywhere from $36,185 (Lexus NX) to $96,510 (Lexus LC Hybrid). According to NewsWire.ca, Toyota Canada, Inc. “recorded its best sales year ever in 2017.” It sold a remarkable 224,547 vehicles and an overall yearly sales growth of 3.1 percent. Consider the fact there were a total of 22.4 million light road motor vehicles (which weigh less than 4,500 kilograms) in Canada in 2016. Assuming that figure remained consistent in 2017, that accounts for a one percent share of the country’s car market. It may not sound like much on paper, but it’s still huge, nonetheless.

Let’s now determine what attracts consumers to these luxury cars. More than two thousand Canadian drivers answered a survey which asked them to rank several vehicle features such as performance, price and safety in 2011. “Of the features examined, safety and reliability were the most highly-rated in terms of importance, whereas design and performance had the lowest rating,” per the February 2011 issue of the Journal of Safety Research (via NCBI.NLM.NIH.gov). If the market preference held serve six years later, consumers would still consider safety and reliability as the main factors in purchasing a car in Canada. On that note, we can say Toyota’s Lexus line of vehicles is one of the safest and reliable in the country, alluding to consumer preference and its impressive market share. Toyota is a Japanese car brand. Japan has a reputation of producing high-quality products. It shouldn’t come as a surprise Toyota’s Lexus line of vehicles are safe and reliable. For instance, let’s size up the SUV Lexus RX. The manufacturer’s official website enumerates its different safety features on its official website:

• Lexus Enform Safety Connect: This feature allows the manufacturer to send assistance directly to the vehicle’s GPS (global positioning system) in case of an emergency (theft, accident, etc.).
• Panoramic view monitor: Lexus RX has four high-resolution cameras on its front, sides, and rear so the driver can see what’s going on in his or her near environment.
• LED-cornering fog lamps: As the name implies, these fog lamps help increase the driver’s visibility during inclement weather conditions such as snow or heavy rain.
• Vehicle proximity notification system: Simply put, this feature warns nearby pedestrians and cyclists by emitting a tone from a speaker on its front bumper.
• Vehicle Dynamics Integrated Management (VDIM): This feature keeps vehicle skids at bay by relying on individual-wheel braking, torque assistance, and torque modulation.
• Brake system: The vehicle’s Anti-Lock Braking System allows the driver to control the steering wheel efficiently while braking. Moreover, it enables the driver to brake effectively in case he or she panics.

This is just the proverbial tip of the iceberg. The Lexus RX also includes a premium triple-beam LED headlamps, 10-airbag system, Smart Stop Technology, backup camera, intuitive parking assist, vehicle stability control, rigid body structure with crumple zones, direct tire pressure monitoring system, rain-sensing wipers, and a windshield wiper de-icer. That’s a grand total of 16 safety features – downright impressive for an international sports utility vehicle, to say the least. Toyota Lexus covers all of your safety needs.

Ironically, only one Toyota vehicle, the Camry, earned the Institute for Highway Safety’s Safety Pick Plus designation (via Driving.ca’s Derek McNaughton) for 2018. Does this mean the Toyota Lexus line is inferior in terms of safety? Not by a long shot. The Lexus RX’s safety features, for instance, are comprehensive in nature. A few tweaks (especially LED headlight technology and the ability to protect passengers from small overlap crashes, which the Institute for Highway Safety emphasized) should help propel Toyota to the top in this category in a year or two. In terms of reliability, J.D. Power ranked Toyota fifth overall in 2018 behind the likes of Buick, Kia, Chevrolet, and Hyundai. Toyota garnered the highest marks (five stars) in the powertrain dependability sub-category. In contrast, Buick received a five-star rating in powertrain dependability, body and interior dependability, and overall dependability.

To conclude matters, Toyota Lexus vehicles continue to endear themselves to Canadian drivers because of their top-notch safety and reliability. We can trace these two special features to Japanese technology and ingenuity. Because of these, expect Toyota to continue its dominance in the Canadian car market for years to come.