Lexus Plans to Sell 25,000 Hybrid HS250 in Model Year One
Now that New GM is aborning, does Toyota feel obliged to become old GM? Seriously. I’ll forgo the recap (feel free to discuss this amongst yourselves) and get straight to the latest ill-advised Toyota: the new Lexus HS250. Yes, they’re right: they’ll sell 25,000 of the suited and booted Prius clones in the first year (which says bad, bad things about the Volt’s prospects BTW). And I’m sure the HS’s hybrid powertrain will kick ass, ’cause the Lexus LS 600hL is a sweet motor. But why are these Lexus guys constantly chasing volume, in a Cadillac kinda way? And if you think I’m just putting the hate on ToMoCo (Death Watch transference?), consider the fact that the group vice president of the Lexus Division for Toyota North America is seeing lights at the end of tunnel—just like the federal teat suckling infernal optimists over in Detroit.
“We feel like we’ve hit the bottom in the last three to four weeks,” Mark Templin told Reuters. Just for fun he also predicted the US market would start a gradual recovery in the back end of ’09, with total US new car sales topping 10 million units. “People are feeling better about the economy, and our dealers are asking for more cars. That’s a good sign,” Templin said.
Yup. That’s one.
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I'm curious as to how the older demographic will handle the HS' computer mouse-like systems controller. Weekly, my grandfather calls me to ask why his DirecTV remote doesn't work. "Ya gotta push SAT and then change the channel, Pa."
If Toyota is the New GM, the HS250 is the new Cimmaron.