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Anti-EV / anti-Tesla advertising from competitors

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Lexus continuing their assault on EVs with garbage ads

Ad apparently seen in Wired magazine, according to insideevs.com.

I've admired Toyota/Lexus for years for their innovations and leadership in car tech. Their anti-EV stance and crap ads like this just makes me shake my head...and makes me want to sell my wife's Lexus IS 350 and never again buy another vehicle from Toyota/Lexus. Just don't understand why they've so thoroughly abandoned what clearly is the future of driving. Instead of taking a leadership role in developing, improving, and lowering the cost of BEVs, something which they are thoroughly capable of doing, they have gone completely close-minded.

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First they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win...
Toyota feels the urge to fight now... Second phase has commenced. Good news I reckon.. Means they're nervous about their total lack of progress regarding future automotive. Focusing on negativity is always bad news for the messenger.

Good luck Toyota... You'll need it.
 
First they laugh at you, then they fight you, then you win...
Toyota feels the urge to fight now... Second phase has commenced. Good news I reckon.. Means they're nervous about their total lack of progress regarding future automotive. Focusing on negativity is always bad news for the messenger.

Good luck Toyota... You'll need it.
It's just so opposite to their history of being on the forefront of innovation. Something has changed in their culture.
 
Thanks for the post. For Toyota to promote their vehicles at the expense of EVs is disgusting. This makes me glad I've decided to skip the RAV4-EV and eventually purchase a Model X. (At the moment, the soon to be discontinued RAV4-EV is heavily discounted and seems like a great deal, but it's nothing more than a compliance vehicle.) Today's Toyota reminds me of GM when they crushed the EV-1.
 
I think that the problem for most manufactures is infrastructure, they don't have it. When batteries improve it will be easier for them, right now they will continue with misinformation about an all electric vehicle. It is unfortunate they feel the need to do this, but it does reinforce how far a head Elon and Tesla are.
 
Obviously Lexus is running scared. Their flagship LS series which competes head on with the Model S in price and size (I have owned LS's since 1990 and my other car is a 2007 LS460L Exec Class which got the other Consumer Reports 99 score). Through July 2014, the sales of the LS are down 22% from last year and total about 4500 cars. Sales of the Model S were about triple that for the first 6 months of 2014 and accelerating.
 
Someone should make a response ad with the following (or similar) content:

Driving a Lexus (or any other ICE):
1. Get ripped off by the dealer when buying the car, paying extra for upgrades you never wanted
2. Smell the burnt dinosaur-juice every time you drive
3. Turn up the volume of the radio to suppress the noise of your engine, can never enjoy a quiet ride
4. Realize you have to stop at the gas station and waste 10-15 minutes lining up and refueling, usually when you were running late for an appointment already
5. Curse each time the price of gasoline goes up (frequent event)
6. Regularly visit the mechanic for oil change to get ripped off again and again -- they always find something else that needs fixin' which cost you more...
7. Pray that one of the hundreds of moving pieces in the engine does not break down at the worst time leaving you stranded in an unpleasant place
8. Step on the pedal, then patiently wait for the engine to rev up each time you want to accelerate
9. Turn yellow in envy each time when a sleak Model S leaves you in the dust at the traffic lights
 
Obviously Lexus is running scared. Their flagship LS series which competes head on with the Model S in price and size (I have owned LS's since 1990 and my other car is a 2007 LS460L Exec Class which got the other Consumer Reports 99 score). Through July 2014, the sales of the LS are down 22% from last year and total about 4500 cars. Sales of the Model S were about triple that for the first 6 months of 2014 and accelerating.

We are just waiting now for my wife's 2011 LS460 to go off lease next June. She has been driving LS since they first hit the USA in 1989. I had been driving SC400/430 then GS450h from 1990 through 2013. Really sad. Lexus was way ahead of the curve and now is stagnating. They do still make solid reliable vehicles, but they are not looking far enough ahead.

FWIW, my long time local Lexus service advisor went to work for TM soon after I showed him my S that replaced my GS450h...smart man.
 
They have the same ad comparing their hybrids to diesels.

Besides what you think of EV's or diesels, don't the ads seem really lame and pathetic? For a prestigious company with a long history of making great products, you'd think they would focus on that, instead of taking cheap shots at other technologies.

It is really getting to be a joke, nobody will compete with Tesla. I thought Toyota/Lexus, with a history of forward looking products of high quality and people willing to pay $$$, was the most likely candidate to compete with Tesla. I guess Honda/Acura is the next most likely choice?
 
They have the same ad comparing their hybrids to diesels.

Besides what you think of EV's or diesels, don't the ads seem really lame and pathetic? For a prestigious company with a long history of making great products, you'd think they would focus on that, instead of taking cheap shots at other technologies.

It is really getting to be a joke, nobody will compete with Tesla. I thought Toyota/Lexus, with a history of forward looking products of high quality and people willing to pay $$$, was the most likely candidate to compete with Tesla. I guess Honda/Acura is the next most likely choice?
I did too, re: Toyota being forward looking and a high-quality leader. This behavior is just bizarre.

Not sure about the next competitor after BMW. Nissan/Infinity would make sense to me, but didn't Nissan hire an anti-EV guy to head up the Infinity division?
 
Obviously Lexus is running scared. Their flagship LS series which competes head on with the Model S in price and size (I have owned LS's since 1990 and my other car is a 2007 LS460L Exec Class which got the other Consumer Reports 99 score). Through July 2014, the sales of the LS are down 22% from last year and total about 4500 cars. Sales of the Model S were about triple that for the first 6 months of 2014 and accelerating.

This is an instance of a more general point that I've been looking for more material on - for the cars that we think of as Model S competitors, how are their sales doing against the Model S? Is anybody in a market that Tesla is active in, faring well, against the Model S?

Talking about total numbers of car sold by a manufacturer obscures the segment by segment buying behavior. Is anybody except Tesla drawing significant numbers of new participants into the category?
 
Someone should make a response ad with the following (or similar) content:

Driving a Lexus (or any other ICE):
1. Get ripped off by the dealer when buying the car, paying extra for upgrades you never wanted
2. Smell the burnt dinosaur-juice every time you drive
3. Turn up the volume of the radio to suppress the noise of your engine, can never enjoy a quiet ride
4. Realize you have to stop at the gas station and waste 10-15 minutes lining up and refueling, usually when you were running late for an appointment already
5. Curse each time the price of gasoline goes up (frequent event)
6. Regularly visit the mechanic for oil change to get ripped off again and again -- they always find something else that needs fixin' which cost you more...
7. Pray that one of the hundreds of moving pieces in the engine does not break down at the worst time leaving you stranded in an unpleasant place
8. Step on the pedal, then patiently wait for the engine to rev up each time you want to accelerate
9. Turn yellow in envy each time when a sleak Model S leaves you in the dust at the traffic lights

Agreed on every point, but No. 3. There are some really quiet cars out there, including the LS.

As artsci has demonstrated with his sound proofing exercise, Tesla could still up its game a bit in this area. Other than that, Tesla can pretty much walk all over any Lexus.
 
This makes me so mad. I just pulled out my unopened copy of Wired and see it on page 76. My wife used to work for Lexus and she always wanted one and she got her dad to buy one when she worked there. I am going to give the so much grief over this.

This is going to come back and bite them one day. A reasonable person has to realize the ad is based on spreading fear and uncertainty. It is not much of a leap to say their claims are dishonest.
 
Hmm...

I'm a bit puzzled about the marketing decision. I thought that Toyota and Tesla were working together on a project (although I read there has been some difficulty here).
From my perspective, it is always a good thing when the establishment feels threatened enough to start a PR campaign.

Hope to be a Tesla owner one day!
 
How many Lexus owners will defect to Tesla??? I am patiently waiting for the Model X unless something big gives up on my RX400h I sell my Lexus for a Model S. My Lexus dealer service dept. saw my license plate frame already and my service writer has asked if I got my Tesla yet. The truth be a Lexus valet saw my license plate frame and excitedly told me they had a Tesla through the shop. I ask my service writer where is the Tesla, his manager WHERE IS THE TESLA??? both know nothing. Heading out towards sales I spotted the Roadster. Photographed it to death and went for Used Car Sales immediately!!! PS outdoor temp. was in the 20's and colder with the wind. I educated the salesman on Tesla and I was the first that knew what it was!!! May the owner enjoy 969!!!
 
So disappointing. Lexus really should have been a leader here. Having owned both ICE and EV cars, it's also just so wrong. Here's my cycle:

ICE:

(1) See that gas is low. Not really sure how low, because the gauge is imprecise. Range anxiety!
(2) Don't stop for gas on the way home because it's dark and cold, or raining, or there's a line, or I'm late.
(3) Run out the door the next morning, late for a meeting, to discover empty tank. Argh! Not NOW!
(4) Pull into gas station.
(5) Loud TV greets me with ads.
(6) Swipe credit card.
(7) Enter billing ZIP code -- totally useless security theater, because it's almost always the same as the gas station's ZIP code.
(8) No, I am not a Safeway Rewards Club member.
(9) No, I do not want my car washed by a giant motorized bottle brush.
(10) Select gas type, start fueling.
(11) Pump shuts off after half a gallon because the one-size-fits-none vapor return system didn't engage perfectly.
(12) Repeat step 11 an unknown number of times.
(13) No, I do not want a receipt or any other memento. I'd rather forget the whole thing.

EV:

(1) Plug in at night.
(2) Unplug in the morning. Always leave home with a full tank, so I never have to stop and I'm prepared for any contingency.