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Lexus- Big Changes on the Horizon
The Lexus motor company is really hitting the pavement running with its all new designs and model line ups, or at least the planning and endless chitchat about such changes are becoming rife. This includes a rumoured BMW X1 rival being planned as well as a newer ‘ES’ version which will no doubt be based on the next model Camry, like its predecessor.
Lexus needs a bit of a refresh as its sales numbers have dropped off in recent times. The ‘Sports Hybrid’ CT 200h has got the ball rolling, averaging around 150 units per month in Australia, similar numbers to the established IS250.
The next change we can see in showrooms is the next Lexus GS model which is set to make great changes into the 21st century of ‘fun’ motoring – FINALLY. One of the world’s most boring cars is now being tweaked to within an inch of it ‘old-man’ status into a mid-sized interesting driving experience.
The design is still strong and very ‘GS’ in this 4th generation styling but its true performance comes with its engagement of the driver. The Australian market will be receiving the GS350 and the GS450h, but not the lovely F Sports which is only designated to the cold countries at this stage.
The designers have obviously looked at the LFA supercar for styling and performance cues. It is bolder, stronger and nearly confidently shouting ‘look at me’. That is what Lexus has been lacking in the past few years – something to shout ‘hey look at Lexus”. We all know the Lexus is reliable, practical and generally very sound. This is not all we want or we would all be driving Prius’. A great reliable car that handles like it is on rails…and fits all the kids – now that’s a winner.
This has obviously come from the Toyota Corporation ‘internationalising’ the Lexus brand and making it a separate and individual division which includes engineering, design and marketing.
Peter Evans, Lexus’ Australian Marketing Director, has said that there is will be a much broader offering including 4-cylinder and diesel models to compete with the Mercedes E220 and BMW 520d. For a brand that currently starts at just short of $100K that is good news to allow more people to even consider looking at the wonderful Lexus brand.
So next time you are looking for a new family sized sedan put the GS Lexus on your list, as it is an up and coming star in this market space.
'Park Assist' the new buzz words
The new buzz phrase for car marketers is ‘Park Assist’. This is where your car literally parks itself, so we are going to look into this a little further. We’ll show you some very clever and amusing TV commercials later which demonstrate the totally ‘hands free’ parking ability, but first we thought we’d do a survey of all the parking aid devices available to you now.
THE BASICS
The very basic parking aid is the front/rear windows and parking mirrors (and, in some cases, an outside helper!). A good eye, some skill and patience and, hopefully, you’re happily parked in a tight spot-or you’ve driven past.
That’s all there was to help you not so many years ago. Then parking sensors became standard equipment on some luxury vehicles. The sensors were moulded into the bumper bars and emitted a more frantic buzzing noise the closer the car came to an immovable object.
They gradually worked down the option range to the most economical models today. Even if it’s not available as an option, or your car doesn’t have them, after market kits can be purchased and fitted for around $350.00.
PARKING CAMERAS
Considered an exclusive extra just a couple of years ago, the parking camera is now much more commonplace, either as original equipment or as an after market extra.
It’s now common to have the rear camera option on a new car, particularly when an in-dash sat/nav is specified.
This option is very popular as a safety measure and certainly makes parking even easier.
Don’t fret if you don’t have sat/nav or don’t have it listed as an option in your preferred car as they are now available as an after market option with a separate view screen. It will cost you around $800.00, and you’ll never have to worry about reverse parking again.
But we’re not finished yet, as the granddaddy of them all is fully automatic park assist.
AUTOMATIC PARK ASSIST
Welcome to the world of the driverless car – literally! Automatic Park Assist is what they call it, but we think the phrase is underdone – as it does virtually everything for you. You don’t even go near the steering wheel, as all you control is the foot brake and accelerator as it manouvres you into the tightest of parking spaces.
And it’s no longer just for the world of the elite car buyers, so read on!
First, let’s show you what they mean by park assist and show you a couple of really clever and amusing T.V. commercials.
VOLKSWAGEN
The first one is from Volkswagen. It’s for the Tiguan in Sao Paolo, Brazil.
http://www.youtube.com/watch?v=_-wya3lz52M
That’s a simple and clever ad that illustrates a remarkable piece of car technology, but that’s in South America!
The good news is that you can get it here too with your new VW.
For Australia a slightly simplified version (VW call it Park Assist 1) can be specified in a new VW Golf. However, the brand new Passat also has the full version (Park Assist 2) for an extra $1800.00 which sounds pretty good value for such an enhanced safety aid..
FORD
A Ford TV commercial also caught our attention. This one is for the Ford C-MAX and was shot in Paris.
http://www.bestadsontv.com/ad/37979/Ford-The-Dog
That’s a very different approach to VW and features a dog parking the car! The bad news is that the C-MAX is not available in Australia – but there’s good news too.
Ford Australia have told us that this really clever technology is available as standard equipment in the brand new Ford Focus Titanium. They tell us that the price on-road will be around $33,000 – $34,000 and deliveries start in September.
Clearly “Park Assist” is no longer just in the realm of the wealthy and exotic, and will rapidly be adopted by more and more car makers and be made much more approachable in retail prices.
Have you tried it? If you have – or if you have any thoughts on this new driverless technology, let us hear from you below.
Best Ever Private Sale Ad?
There’s a guy in the UK who wants to sell his car. It’s a Porsche and he’s probably created the best private car ad ever.
His name is Peter Bohus and he starts off in the ad with some fascinating copywriting:-
“I am reluctant to sell my beautiful Porsche 911 Supersport Targa as I no longer have the time or energy to cope with the pressures of being in the public eye of admirers, gorgeous women constantly falling at my feet, always having to arrive in style to decadent fetish parties, long drives to classic motor shows and trying to find a parking space at Les Trois Garcons. I’m now looking for the right candidate to hand down this hedonist roof down boxer engined lifestyle so that I may retire and have a long break in Nepal.”
But the killer punch is his link to his video clip on U-tube:-
Have you seen an ad as good as this for any private sale, let alone a 25 year old car??
Google Self Drive Car Crashes – but don't panic.
We wrote about the amazing driverless car from Google a couple of months ago. We’ve just heard the embarrassing news that it’s crashed! But relax. It seems that it was not in the ‘driver free’ mode, so the ‘driver in control’ is probably a lot more embarrassed than the boffins themselves.
Auto blog site Jalopnik posted a photo on their pages that shows the car having shunted into another Toyota Prius near Google’s Californian headquarters. The legal system hasn’t kept up with the concept of a driverless car, so a ‘driver’ is still required to sit behind the wheel on public roads – even though he is redundant. But according to Google he was not being redundant at the time of the bingle, but was actually driving it……(hmm!)
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