Lexus India bookings commence, launch on March 24

The luxury arm of Toyota has been contemplating its Indian entry for a while now. But unlike other unknown foreign brands such as Citroen or Alfa-Romeo, the hype and image of the Lexus nameplate in India is arguably more than the Bavarian Stuttgart Ingolstadt based brands. Thus, with the important launches of the past year namely the Fortuner and the Innova done with, Toyota has finally found time to bring the halo brand to India, and the date is set for March 24.

Toyota, which itself is a name synonymous with luxury and high-class motoring in the country, is gearing up to launch the Lexus brand in India to compete in the ultra-luxury segment. Bookings for the cars have commenced, but deliveries will start only later this year. The first Lexus dealership will be set up in financial hub Mumbai. Called the ‘Lexus Boutique’, it will most likely be situated at the Taj Santacruz Hotel, located right next to Chhatrapati Shivaji International Airport (Domestic Terminal).
Lexus will debut in India with a comprehensive and exuberant product line-up, consisting of the full-size Audi Q7 fighter called the LX450D SUV, which is a smartened-up Land Cruiser, the RX450H – the baby SUV to take on the BMW X3 in hybrid format and the entry-level Camry-based Lexus ES300H sedan. The Lexus line-up in India will come with all options that are available in the Japanese-spec models and will be fully imported from Japan via the CBU route. The ES400 sedan might also get to be the first locally-assembled Lexus as the Camry is already made in India.