A Lexus LF-CC concept car at the new Tokyo cafe-showroom. Photograph: Itsuo Inouye/AP
Toyota's luxury brand Lexus is trying to shake off its stodgy image. So it's opening a cafe.
The special lounges, the first of which is opening next week in Tokyo's Aoyama district, are designed to look more like a chic home than a standard showroom. In fact, only one vehicle can be displayed at a time.
What Toyota is calling a "luxury-brand experience space" is mostly given over to serving espresso and displaying curiosities: a pair of old Ray Ban sunglasses here, a Jack Kerouac book there. The bathroom interior is wrapped in a glass case packed with miniature cars. Similar spaces are set to open in New York and Dubai, as the brand tries to underline recent redesigns of some of its top models.
"This is about showing people the personality of the Lexus brand, and showing a more emotional part of Lexus," said Mark Templin, executive vice-president of Lexus International.
The car brand has scored success since it arrived in North America 24 years ago by offering reliability and craftsmanship, longtime trademarks of Toyota, the world's biggest carmaker.
Past glories are no selling point for today's younger consumers, who identify the Lexus with the staid conservative image of their parents' generation.
Templin hopes the new space, called Intersect, will change that, welcoming the shabbiest dressed young person who happens to walk in.
The lounges, a creation of the interior designer Masamichi Katayama, will also hold events for designers and offer music, food and fashion, aiming to send a message about a cool lifestyle, instead of just the nuts-and-bolts of products, he said.
Lexus debuted in Japan in 2005, much later than in the US. Until the arrival of the Lexus, the Japanese luxury market was dominated by imports such as Mercedes and BMW.
Lexus has outsold both Mercedes and BMW in the US in recent years, according to researcher IHS Automotive. Last year, Lexus sales totalled 43,752 in Japan, ahead of BMW at 40,916 and Mercedes-Benz at 40,341.
In contrast, Lexus has fallen behind Mercedes and BMW in the past two years.
Koji Endo, automotive analyst at Advanced Research Japan in Tokyo, sys grabbing share in the luxury car market is difficult because brand loyalty is strong for likes of BMW.
"Young rich people don't want a Japanese car. They want imports," he said.
Toyota officials say that has been gradually changing. They also believe the market domination that Toyota has in Japan is a plus. As younger Toyota drivers grow older, they may opt for a Lexus, they say.
But the big problem may be that many young Japanese don't have the money to buy any car, let alone a luxury car. Public transportation is so sophisticated in most Japanese cities, people can get around fine without a car, which come with relatively high tax, inspection and parking fees.
The trend among youngsters to shun car ownership has grown so widespread a special term was coined: "kuruma banare" meaning "leaving cars".
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