雷克萨斯：缺乏激情的豪华车

    据说美国人最爱说的三大谎话是：1. 不速之客对房主说：“我是政府派来帮助你的。”2. 欠钱的人对讨债的人说：“我已经把支票寄给你了。”3. 男人对女人说：“天亮以后我依然尊重你。”雷克萨斯（Lexus）出品的汽车在机械工艺上无懈可击，但在设计上缺乏新意。而雷克萨斯公司多年以来一直承诺会把设计做得更大胆些，更有感情色彩一些，但事实却是雷声大雨点小。

    因为这种话雷克萨斯已经说了快十年了。

    汽车网站Just-auto.com早在2004年4月13日的报道中就写道：“雷克萨斯有望推出造型更加大胆的汽车。雷克萨斯集团副总裁兼总经理丹尼斯•克莱门茨对路透社（Reuters）透露：‘我们的顾客告诉我们，他们希望我们推出一款更富有感情色彩、更加高雅的设计。’”

    新加坡网站AsiaOne Marketing在2007年11月28日的文章中也曾写道：“雷克萨斯希望在轿车设计中融入情感色彩，将品牌带到更高的档次。雷克萨斯预计不久将推出更多的高性能运动车型。雷克萨斯不仅是要制造能跑得更快的汽车，它的目标是要在品牌中注入更多的情感色彩。”

    澳洲汽车网站The Motor Report2011年7月23日又撰文写道：“雷克萨斯承诺其新车的造型设计将秉持更加清晰和富有情感色彩的设计理念。雷克萨斯的老板马克•坦普林称：‘我们的客户一直在期盼一款在各方面都更加热烈的新雷克萨斯GS轿车。’”

    看到这个怪圈了吗？雷克萨斯的设计一贯缺乏想象力，雷克萨斯也一直承诺要改变这种局面，但是却一直达不到自己定下的标准，也无法满足忠实顾客的要求。

    上周雷克萨斯美国公司的老板马克•坦普林来到纽约接受访问。不知道公司品牌情商较低这个事实是否让他觉得有些尴尬，反正他没有表现出来。

    因为这些无形的因素，雷克萨斯一直不能稳坐全球豪车品牌的第一排交椅。坦普林必然像他的前任一样觉得沮丧。

    雷克萨斯是日本丰田汽车（Toyota）旗下的一个高端品牌，今年已有22年的历史，但仍是所有豪车品牌中最年轻的一个【最老的是梅塞德斯奔驰（Mercedes-Benz），今年已有125岁了】。尽管雷克萨斯在客户服务、质量和可靠性上丝毫不逊于它的竞争对手，甚至有过之而无不及，但是雷克萨斯却从未达到过其它高端品牌的那种经典地位，这种超然的地位是风格、历史沉淀和驾乘体验的神秘结晶。

    雷克萨斯面临新车型青黄不接的窘境时，这种缺陷就变得尤为明显了，比如今年就是如此。今年十月，雷克萨斯的销量暴跌17%，要知道以往十月份的雷克萨斯销售是很火爆的。相比之下，梅塞德斯奔驰的销量上升了10%，宝马（BMW）上升了12%，最近快速崛起的奥迪（Audi）更是跃升了15%。

    与前几年相比，雷克萨斯现在正在迈出实实在在的步伐，着手解决情感色彩欠缺的问题，只是不知道这次他们的诚意有多大。例如今年10月，雷克萨斯的一款超跑LFA开始接受订购。LFA的参数强大得让人瞠目结舌：LFA是一款手工打造的碳纤维双座跑车，搭载了一个10汽缸引擎，最高时速达每小时202英里。当然它的价格同样让人瞠目：每台LFA的售价为3,750万日元（即35万美元）。

    雷克萨斯LFA堪称所谓“光环车型”（或曰“旗舰车型”）的活标本。它的存在没有什么合理的商业依据，完全就是为了在营销计划中打奢华牌，使雷克萨斯产品线里的其它车型都跟着沾光，从而改变消费者对这个品牌的认知。

    靠超跑来做噱头，这在豪华车品牌的营销上是件司空见惯的事。但超跑的销售周期很短，它们可能在一段时间内吸引了公众的注意，但只要新的超跑一上市，它就会迅速失宠。比如日产（Nissan）的GT-R跑车，浑名叫做“哥斯拉”（Godzilla），它在2007年刚刚推出时是全业界讨论的焦点，但时隔不久就成了明日黄花。

    此外，LFA与雷克萨斯旗下的其它车型不太搭调，因为雷克萨斯常常骄傲地宣传自己比其他豪车品牌拥有更多的混合动力车型。雷克萨斯把LFA称为检测新技术的试验台，但是我们恐怕很难在量产车的产品线里看到12汽缸引擎或碳纤维车身这些不切实际的技术。

    LFA也让典型的雷克萨斯车主望而却步。这些女性车主驾驶RX跨界车。它是雷克萨斯卖得最火的一款车型，深受顾客欢迎，贡献了雷克萨斯总销量的40%。如果美剧《绝望的主妇》（Desperate Housewives）里需要一款道具车，那他们一定会选择雷克萨斯RX。从纽约的卡斯戴尔，到加州的圣莫尼卡，但凡是美国的高档住宅区，总能看到雷克萨斯RX的身影。但我们很难想象一个风韵少妇开着一辆LFA会是什么样子——除非她是F1女车手丹妮卡•帕特里克。

    雷克萨斯已经信心十足地做好了销量反弹的准备。除了LFA之外，雷克萨斯还打算推出一系列经过重新设计的车型，打头阵就是GS运动型轿车。这是一个积极的迹象。此外雷克萨斯还在燃油经济性上具有优势。它的产品线中已经有五款混合动力车型，所以它不必像它的竞争对手一样，为了满足燃油经济性标准而急着要给车型瘦身减排。坦普林称，雷克萨斯不会推出比现有车型更小的车型。

    但是雷克萨斯是否能够推出更加具有感情色彩的轿车？只能让时间去回答了。我们从来没听过奔驰或宝马公司谈论设计上的感情色彩问题，因为感情色彩已经融入了它们的基因里。雷克萨斯当下可能更应该在自己最擅长的事情上下工夫——也就是质量、可靠性和客户服务，同时祈祷它与顾客的情感联系能够水到渠成。

    译者：朴成奎

    They may not rank with "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you," or "The check is in the mail," or "I'll respect you in the morning," but promises over the years from Lexus that it will make its mechanically impeccable vehicles more daring and emotional in their design are beginning to have an empty ring about them.

    Lexus has been saying the same thing for nearly a decade:

    Just-auto.com April 13, 2004. "Expect more boldly styled cars from Lexus, Lexus group vice president and general manager Dennis Clements told Reuters. "'Our customers have told us they're looking for a more emotional and elegant design.'"

    AsiaOne Marketing," Nov. 28, 2007: "Lexus shifts into higher gear with play on emotions. More Lexus high-performance sports models can be expected in the near future and it will be more than just that the Japanese luxury carmaker wants to make faster cars -- the goal is to inject more emotion into the marque."

    The Motor Report, July 23, 2011 "Lexus promises a more defined and emotional design philosophy for the new sedan's styling. 'Our customers have been waiting for a new GS that's more intense in every way,' Lexus boss Mark Templin said."

    See a pattern here? Lexus has been promising to do something about its unimaginative design but has been unable to live up to its own standards or the demands of conquest customers.

    U.S. boss Templin came to New York to talk up Lexus last week, and if he felt uncomfortable about the shortcomings of its emotional intelligence, he didn't show it.

    Like his predecessors in the Lexus job, however, he must be frustrated by the brand's inability to establish itself solidly in the top rank of global luxury brands because of something so intangible.

    At 22 years old, Toyota's (TM) high-end division is the youngest of the upscale brands. (Mercedes-Benz, 125 this year, is the oldest.) While it has equaled or surpassed its competitors in customer service, quality, and reliability, Lexus has never achieved that iconic status that comes from a mystical combination of style, heritage, and driving dynamics.

    That shortcoming becomes especially apparent when Lexus suffers a drought of new models, such as it has this year. Through October, it has been looking at a steep 17% decline in sales in an otherwise strong luxury market. By comparison, Mercedes sales have climbed 10% this year, BMW 12%, and fast-rising Audi 15%.

    In contrast to previous years, Lexus is taking some concrete steps to address its emotional shortcomings, although it is unclear how much they will contribute. In October, for instance, it began accepting orders for a Lexus supercar, the LFA. Its specifications are jaw dropping: Powered by a 10-cylinder engine, the hand-built carbon-fiber two-seater is capable of a top speed of 202 miles per hour. The price is equally jaw dropping: 37.5 million yen or $350,000.

    The LFA is the living definition of the halo car. With no rational business case attached to it, it exists entirely as an expense item in a marketing plan, designed to suffuse the rest of the Lexus lineup in a favorable glow and thereby change perceptions about it.

    But supercars have become as common as subvented leases in promoting luxury brands and tend to have short sell-by dates. They command public attention only until the next supercar comes along. The Nissan GT-R, nicknamed "Godzilla," was the talk of the industry when it came out in 2007, but more lately has been filed under the heading of "yesterday's news."

    Besides, the LFA seems weirdly out of phase with the rest of Lexus's lineup, since Lexus prides itself on having more hybrids than any other luxury car brand. Lexus calls the LFA a test bed for new technology, but it is hard to see 12-cylinder engines or carbon-fiber bodies finding their way into the model range.

    The LFA stands as kind of a rebuke to the typical Lexus owner: She drives an RX crossover, the most popular Lexus, and the one model that contributes 40% of Lexus sales. If Desperate Housewives had a show car, it would be the RX, popular in upscale suburbs from Scarsdale to Santa Monica. But it is hard to imagine one of its owners getting behind the wheel of an LFA unless her name is Danica Patrick.

    The LFA aside, Lexus is poised to experience a spurt in sales as it launches a flurry of redesigned models, beginning with the GS sport sedan. That's a positive. It also has an edge in fuel economy. Thanks to the presence of five hybrids in its lineup, it doesn't face the same pressure as its competitors to downsize its models to meet fuel economy standards. Templin says Lexus will be offering no cars smaller than ones it already sells.

    But more emotional Lexus cars? We'll have to see. You never hear Mercedes or BMW talking about their emotional design. It's part of their genetic code. Lexus may just have to focus on what it does best -- quality, reliability, customer service -- and hope that its strong connection with its customers comes along that way.