Toyota Turns Its Tuners Loose on the Lexus
Honda has been the car of choice for years among young and often budget-constrained speed enthusiasts--on the street and the strip.
For those with a touch of silver in the hair and a pile of it in the bank, though, fancies most often turn to the performance-tuned M-Series models sold by BMW and the sporty AMG versions offered by Mercedes-Benz dealers.
That leaves Toyota Motor Co., which shares with Honda and the Europeans a reputation for quality and reliability, as an also-ran in the race to win performance-oriented customers, both for its mainstream Toyota brand and its Lexus luxury marque.
But things are changing.
Torrance-based Toyota Motor Sales of America has been pushing its Toyota Racing Development unit for several years to develop bolt-on performance and appearance products for Toyota vehicles.
And TRD isn’t just for Toyotas anymore.
The Costa Mesa-based performance parts unit is about to sprout a new line, called L-Tuned, to provide enhanced versions of some Lexus models in hopes of boosting the brand’s image among the more youthful, performance-minded segment of the luxury import market.
The L-Tuned package or its individual components would be sold only through Lexus dealers as premium performance products.
It is the first step, said Gary Reed, TRD sales and marketing manager, in developing factory-produced performance vehicles in the same vein as BMW’s specially tuned M versions, with their increased horsepower and racing-type suspensions, and the sporty AMG models tuned by Mercedes-Benz’s company-owned performance house in Germany. Such vehicles typically run thousands of dollars more than the standard versions.
The move into performance parts is important to Toyota because automotive sales races are typically won by those with the youngest buyer profiles--especially now that the baby boom generation is graying and about 100 million under-30 Gen-Xers and “echo boomers” are surging into the market.
Yet Toyota’s customers are among the oldest in the import market: One competitor’s internal studies show that whereas the average Honda buyer is 40, the Toyota customer’s average age is 47, the same as that of the Ford Motor Co. buyer.
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Toyota is well equipped to join the performance segment because of its long involvement in racing.
Until recently, the TRD performance parts operation was focused on developing go-fast equipment for Toyota-sponsored vehicles in off-road and Indy Car racing.
But in the last four years, Toyota has kicked it loose and TRD has responded with a hot-selling supercharger for the V-6 engine used in the Tacoma compact pickup and since-discontinued T100 pickup, the 4Runner sport-utility vehicle and the new Tundra full-size pickup. TRD also markets suspension kits for the trucks and aerodynamic body panels and suspension-lowering kits for the Camry and Corolla sedans and Solara coupe.
The company has also developed performance exhaust systems, lowering kits and manual transmission quick-shift kits for most Toyota vehicles, and this spring will release a body-styling kit for the Tundra.
If L-Tuned is successful in the Lexus GS series, Reed said, the company would also consider offering similar performance and appearance packages for other models, including the forthcoming IS 300 sport sedan and the RX 300 SUV.
Having a performance image wouldn’t have mattered much a few years ago, but now European auto makers are stepping up promotion in the U.S. of their performance lines.
In addition to BMW and Mercedes, significant initiatives have been launched by Volkswagen of Germany, now marketing high-performance cars under an S-line from its Audi luxury unit; Ford’s British subsidiary Jaguar, which has hit the road with its R-Types; and General Motors-owned Saab of Sweden, which is promoting its Viggen and Aero models as its high-performance line. Even Honda Motor Co.’s luxury arm has gotten into the act with a racy Type R version of its entry-level Acura Integra coupe.
“They all are aiming at a small segment of people who love cars, love the performance aspect of driving and mostly in the past have been BMW buyers,” said Wes Brown, an industry analyst with Nextrend in Thousand Oaks.
“But it is a growing segment and they all want a piece of it. The drivers of these cars are people the peer groups look to for advice when the time comes to go out and buy cars, so they are the best spokesmen for the car companies.”
In addition, auto makers have seen the phenomenal success, especially in Southern California, of the $21.2-billion performance and appearance parts industry. Performance-car enthusiasts accounted for almost $5 billion of that total, spending it on parts ranging from turbochargers to molded-plastic body-styling kits, according to the Specialty Equipment Market Assn.
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The appeal to most buyers is individuality: the ability to add custom touches so their cars don’t look--or perform--like the factory models everyone else is driving.
“This is a generation that is used to customization,” analyst Brown said. “Look at how they order their computers. The want to get what they want, how they want it. And just like they tweak their computers . . . they want to be able to tweak their cars.”
Auto makers figure that if they have the products and can design them into their cars and sell them as part of a package, they can grab a piece of the custom market pie, Brown said.
Also, “By ordering a manufacturer-approved aftermarket package through Lexus dealers, our customers know they’re getting high-quality parts, reliable installation and a warranty,” said Bryan Bergsteinsson, Lexus group vice president and general manager.
L-Tuned is expected to make its public debut next month at the annual International Auto Salon in Pomona, sponsored by SEMA. Lexus will display GS 300 and GS 400 L-Tuned models outfitted with custom streamlined body panels developed for TRD by a local custom parts maker, Molly Designs in Huntington Beach, and expensive oversized alloy wheels from popular custom wheel maker OZ.
In addition to the 17- or 18-inch wheels and high-performance tires and special L-Tuned badging, the basic package will include stiffer shocks and springs and a more responsive steering setup.
A Level 2 package adds the body kit--lower side panels and a unique L-Tuned grille--as well as a stainless-steel sport muffler.
Sources say TRD is also developing superchargers for the already peppy Lexus GS models, although production versions for the V-6-powered GS 300 and the V-8-powered GS 400 won’t be ready in time for the Pomona show.
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John O’Dell can be reached at john.odell@latimes.com.
