2012 Lexus GS 350/ LF GH Merged

Thanks to teaser images revealed last month, it’s already clear that the GS F Sport styling kit destined for Frankfurt this week will carry a closer connection to its concept progenitor.

Now, new reports out of Europe suggest we can expect future Lexus cars to look even tougher.

According to industry paper Automotive News, Toyota design boss Tokuo Fukuichi, whose office is based in Europe, has promised that the LF-Gh’s pronounced ‘Spindle’ grille will be emphasised further with future models.

“In the next model we will emphasize this grille even more,” Fukuichi told Automotive News. “You would probably remember this grille if you saw it pass on the street.”

With the new GS, the Japanese luxury brand has moved to overcome the dowdy image of its predecessor, focusing on sharper styling and handling in a push to draw the eyes of a younger crowd.

“We shouldn’t always stay in the middle of the mainstream,” Fukuichi added. “When you launch the product, it ends up with no character.”

2011 Lexus IS F

While the mean and chuckable IS F has helped the brand make in-roads with the enthusiast market, it’s the overseas HS 250h and the brand-new CT 200h small car that first marked a major change in the brand’s “L-Finesse” styling book.

The new look matured last month with the unveiling of the new GS, and the next model to get a going-over will be the IS mid-sizer, Lexus’ rival for the BMW 3 Series and the Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

Lexus Australia CEO Tony Cramb is confident the new GS’ look and feel will resonate with younger buyers- and poach loyalists away from its European competitors.

“This segment is very well defined. Buyers in the large luxury car segment are almost always male, and very wealthy – and they can have just about whatever they want when it comes to their choice of car,” Mr Cramb told TMR.

“Frankly, we’ve struggled to attract that type in the past, but this model, its styling and handling, we’re very confident it will change all of that.”

2012 Lexus GS

Courtesy of themotorreport.com

Gas prices are getting out of control, so it makes sense that more people are conserving as much energy as they can–although it’s difficult to imagine that everyone can actually cut back on their fuel consumption.

A lot of people are actually saving more by going green, or buying hybrid.

The hybrid and electric car market keeps growing each year, and these type of vehicles are only are getting more popular as time moves forward. Which fuel efficient models are the safest though?

The top 7 safest fuel efficient 2011 models are:

1. Chevrolet Cruze ECO
2. Ford Focus SFE
3. Honda Civic HF / Hybrid
4. Hyundai Elantra
5. Lexus CT 200h
6. Toyota Prius
7. Volkswagen Golf TDI

Courtesy of blogs.internetautoguide.com

MONTEREY, Calif., March 14, 2011 /PRNewswire/ – Lexus, Honda and Toyota dealerships ranked highest in a newly released Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index® (PSI®) Internet Lead Effectiveness(TM) Benchmarking Study to measure dealership responsiveness to customer inquiries over the internet. The study measured average dealership performance for all major U.S. automotive brands, showing a wide variety in performance by brand. Pied Piper conducted the study as an independent benchmarking service to its Internet Lead Effectiveness clients, who receive monthly internet “mystery shops” to measure and improve dealership response to internet inquiries.

Internet Lead Effectiveness rankings by brand are determined by the patent-pending Pied Piper PSI process, which ties “mystery shopping” measurement and scoring to actual industry sales success. Nineteen different Internet Lead Effectiveness questions generate composite scores for Timeliness of Response, Dealership and Salesperson Identification, Quality of Communication and Forwarding the Sale.

As recently as three years ago, only six in ten dealership internet inquiries were answered in any way within 24 hours. In comparison, today dealerships respond within 24 hours nine times out of ten, but often with an automated, impersonal response. However, despite the increase in responses driven by automated CRM systems, today a customer’s specific question is answered within 24 hours only 64% of the time. Or in other words, 36% of today’s internet inquiries remain unanswered after 24 hours.

“A dealer principal would never accept this sort of poor performance in traditional dealership activities,” said Fran O’Hagan, President and CEO of Pied Piper Management Company LLC. “Imagine ignoring 36% of sales customers who walk through the door, or ignoring 36% of customers who bring their car in for service.” A reason cited for this disparity in performance is that a dealership’s internet response performance is often invisible to dealership management, which is why Pied Piper offers internet mystery shopping to shine a light on dealership performance.

O’Hagan noted, “We find dramatically different industrywide results for Pied Piper internet mystery shops when compared to in-person mystery shops. When we break-out the auto industry average results into simple letter grades, we find that 64% of in-person mystery shops are either “A” or “B” performances, while only 16% earn a “D” or “F.” In comparison, only 17% of internet mystery shops earn an “A” or “B” grade, while 60% perform at a “D” or “F” level.”

The 2011 Pied Piper PSI Internet Lead Response Benchmarking Study (U.S. Auto Industry) was conducted between September 2010 and March 2011 by submitting internet inquiries to a sample of 2,816 dealerships nationwide representing all major brands. Examples of other recent Pied Piper PSI studies are the 2010 Pied Piper PSI U.S. Auto Industry Study and 2010 Pied Piper PSI U.S. Motorcycle Industry Study, both of which measured in-dealership, in-person sales effectiveness. Complete Pied Piper PSI industry study results are provided to vehicle manufacturers and national dealer groups. Manufacturers, national dealer groups and individual dealerships also order PSI evaluations as a tool to improve the sales effectiveness of their dealerships. For more information about the Pied Piper Prospect Satisfaction Index, and the patent-pending PSI process, go to www.piedpiperpsi.com.

About Pied Piper Management Company, LLC

Pied Piper Management Company, LLC is an eight year old Monterey, California company that develops and runs sales and marketing programs to maximize the performance of dealer networks. Go to www.piedpipermc.com.

Courtesy of prnewswire.com

People Beyond Politics – Product Beyond Politics

“We believe this rigorous scientific analysis by some of America’s foremost engineers should further reinforce confidence in the safety of our vehicles.”

“All the scientific evidence to date confirms what millions of Toyota drivers prove day in and day out – that they can rely on their vehicles for safe and reliable transportation.”

“Our ETCS-i is well-designed and well-tested to ensure that real world, un-commanded acceleration of the vehicle cannot occur.”

“Toyota’s ETCS-i system has performed reliably in more than 40 million cars and trucks sold around the world – including more than 16 million here in the U.S. – and we hope this important study will help put to rest unsupported speculation about our system.”

“Even after months of intense publicity and multiple investigations, no one has identified any specific defect in Toyota’s ETCS-i or presented any valid scientific evidence that ETCS-i can cause unintended acceleration in a real world scenario.”

“Electronic throttle control systems have long been standard across the automobile industry because they provide great benefits and have made significant safety advances possible.”

” These advances include vehicle stability control and traction control, which are among the five sophisticated accident-avoidance
technologies in our Star Safety System.”

“Our Star Safety System and our Smart Stop Technology braking system are now standard on all the new vehicles we manufacture for the North American market.”

“We are grateful to Toyota drivers for their continued confidence in our brand – and we’ll continue to earn that customer loyalty with even
greater dedication to qualify, safety and customer care.”

“Despite the challenges of 2010, Toyota was the #1 retail brand last year, Camry was the #1-selling car in America, and Lexus remained the #1 luxury brand. We are beginning 2011 in a good position.”

“We’re optimistic about our future because we have one of the strongest dealer networks in the industry, more flexible plants and 10 new or updated products to introduce this year, including the all-new Prius v and Lexus CT hybrids.”

“Everyone at Toyota – all 30,000 of our team members in the United States and the many thousands of Americans at our dealers and suppliers – is focused on listening to our customers and constantly improving our products and service.”

“We will continue to develop and equip Toyota and Lexus vehicles with industry-leading safety technologies, including many based on
breakthroughs in sophisticated electronics systems.”

“We also will continue to cooperate fully with NHTSA and respected outside experts to help ensure that our customers have the utmost confidence in the safety and reliability of our vehicles.”

Regarding the safety and reliability of Toyota vehicles with ETCS-i, the company also noted:

• Electronic throttle control systems have long been standard across the automobile industry, and they provide great benefits to consumers.
• Toyota’s ETCS-i has performed reliably in more than 40 million cars and trucks sold around the world, including more than 16 million in the United States.
• This system has also made possible significant safety advances such as vehicle stability control and traction control, which are among the five sophisticated accident avoidance technologies in Toyota’s Star Safety System.
• These enhancements, along with Toyota’s Smart Stop Technology braking system, are now standard on all the new vehicles Toyota manufactures for the North American market.