Lexus to Launch Compact in Europe, Targeting 1-Series and A3

[VenSeattle]

Lexus to launch compact in Europe, targeting 1 Series and A3
Posted Oct 20th 2008 2:02PM
Link to Autoblog

Europeans will get another premium compact car not bound for U.S. shores and this time it comes courtesy of Lexus. The automaker is targeting the BMW 1 Series and Audi A3, vehicles that its rivals have offered in the United States market. Lexus, though, only plans the vehicle for markets outside the U.S. where sales of smaller cars outpace their larger siblings. Apparently, Lexus has set a goal to sell 150,000 vehicles in Europe by 2015 and believes the new model is necessary to meet that number. At this point, we have no idea what platform the compact car would be based on, but Toyota certainly has a number of options, most notably the Auris, which is offered in the European market in hatchback form. There is also the possibility that the new entry-level Lexus could be based on an upcoming small hybrid model from Toyota that would slot beneath the Prius, a version of which the automaker plans to debut in the Lexus line.

[MyerShift]

So, a a miniature Lexus ES for foreign markets then, huh?

[Robert Hall]

So, a a miniature Lexus ES for foreign markets then, huh?

Sounds like it...premium C-segment hatches are a hot niche in Europe.... the A3 really hasn't caught on big here yet.

[MyerShift]

Gosh, unless it's as sweet as a Mini Cooper or offers all wheel drive or something sexy like an Alfa, I can't imagine Europe would really like a rebadged Toyota.

[Robert Hall]

Gosh, unless it's as sweet as a Mini Cooper or offers all wheel drive or something sexy like an Alfa, I can't imagine Europe would really like a rebadged Toyota.

Yeah, maybe they will do something with a unique Lexus style and not just a rebadge...Lexus models have been sold in Europe for a while, don't know how successful they have been.