The diesel-powered IS220D reportedly is the product Lexus Europe director Stuart McCullough has been waiting for years.
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“Clean diesel is key to win market share,” he told BBC News.
Lexus will also introduce at least one and possibly even two more hybrid cars during the year, McCullough told the broadcaster.
“In the past, our products have not been targeted at the European market,” he told the BBC, adding that this is about to change with Lexus’ new engine line-up.
Lexus Europe vice president Carl Schlicht reportedly anticipated a lift in sales from the current 25,000 to 65,000 by the end of the decade.
The BBC said that Lexus, which is a leading luxury brand in the US, has announced similar ambitions for its European operations before but, at the time, nobody believed it was serious.
But us said, this time, the car maker’s anticipated sales growth will be backed by a fivefold increase in its marketing budget to more than €150 million and by a dealer network that will eventually number 350 dedicated Lexus showrooms.
