800 temporary workers at a Toyota plant in Japan were laid off yesterday:

Japanese automaker Toyota has laid off 800 people at a plant in southwestern Japan, or about 10 percent of the plant’s work force, in response to declining sales in North America, a company official said Tuesday.

All the job cuts — carried out in June and August at Toyota Motor Corp.’s wholly owned subsidiary Toyota Motor Kyushu — applied to workers sent by job-referral agencies. Japanese companies are increasingly relying on such agencies for temporary workers called “haken” to be flexible to market demand.

Prior to the layoffs, Toyota Motor Kyushu, which makes Lexus luxury models, had employed 8,200 workers — 1,950 of them haken — an official said on condition of anonymity, citing company policy.

The official said the job cuts were temporary and 500 haken workers will be brought back later this year. He declined to comment on why they would be needed back, saying product plans can’t be released.

Just looking at the first six months of Lexus sales, it’s not surprising that a workforce adjustment was necessary. (The article also talks about the concept of Haken workers in Japan, which I found very interesting.)

[Source: Manufacturing.net]

The July 2008 numbers for Lexus USA are in:

The LX 570 is shining like a single star in the sky, moving a staggering 843 units. Everything else, as you can see, is down — and significantly. Why is Lexus being hit so hard by the market slowdown? Two reasons jump out at me:

• Generally speaking, Lexus owners tend to be conservative, and in a recession are more likely to hold off on any big purchases.
• Lexus just isn’t pushing the same level of incentives. For their summer sales event, dealers are offering 2.9% APR financing. Compare that to BMW, who are offering 0.9% APR financing. Big difference there.

Combine these points with a lack of new models, and the numbers start to make sense. (Still, 40%+ drops are never pretty.)

The 2009 versions of the Lexus SC 430, GX 470 and LX 570 will remain unchanged save for some minor changes (all prices USD):

The 2009 model year SC 430 luxury hardtop convertible receives new side mirrors with incorporated turn signals and will have a base MSRP $66,805, an increase of 0.7 percent or $450.

The 2009 LX 570 will be available in an all-new Costa Azul Mica exterior color and will feature an available Luxury Package that includes semi-aniline leather-trimmed seats, Bubinga wood-trim, cool box, smart card key and 20-inch alloy wheels with a unique finish. The LX 570 base MSRP will be $75,705, an increase of 1.3 percent or $1,005.

The GX 470 carries over unchanged for the 2009 model year and will have a base MSRP of $47,615, an increase of 0.6 percent or $300.

This would seem to contradict the Edmunds report that the SC would be cancelled, though sales are bound to be even less than this year. Too bad about the GX, though, I was hoping for an update of some sort.

(Also announced was a $500 price increase to the 2008 RX 400h, bringing the FWD/AWD totals to $42,080 and $43,480 respectively.)

[Source: Lexus]

Lexus Europe have reported their 2008 January to June sales, and the result is very similar to the US numbers. For the first six months of the year, 24,859 vehicles have been sold, a 14% decrease from last year.

The press release also mentions that 35% of all Lexus’ sold in Europe are hybrids, which is down from 37% last year. (Hardly a significant drop, but it’s worth mentioning.)

In addressing the drop in sales, the Toyota press release included a very interesting quote:

‘2008 has been challenging as we prepare for a new product offensive and face tougher external pressures,’ said Tadashi Arashima, President and Chief Executive Officer of TME. ‘We are confident of entering a new phase of growth in-line with the introduction of 18 models, including two hybrids, to Europe. Each model will bring improved fuel efficiency, helping to expand our low CO2 sales mix.’

With eighteen new models (!!!) about to be introduced, it looks like Toyota/Lexus is about to begin a major offensive in Europe.

[Source: Infibeam]

Toyota has responded to an Edmunds article that suggested the Lexus SC will be discontinued:

Mike Michels, the corporate manager of External Communications for Toyota Motor Sales USA, has told AutomotiveWorld.com that reports by a US-based automotive website which claim the Lexus SC and Toyota Avalon will not be replaced due to slow sales are “unfounded speculation”.

“We [TMS] do not comment on future product plans or timetables, for obvious competitive reasons,” Michels states, stating that Inside Line did not contact the OEM’s US division’s media department before publishing its story.

Not really a denial, not really a confirmation, which makes me feel the news may be true. If that’s the case, I doubt the company is very happy to have someone leaking out business details.

[Source: Automotive World]

Lexus buyers in China are about to encounter some exceptional price hikes as the result of a new Government policy:

The Lexus cars to be marked up are mainly the 3.5L-plus models. The 2008 Lexus ES 350, of the lowest rise rate, has its price marked up by 57,000 yuan ($8,340USD) to 529,000 yuan ($77,406USD). The 2008 Lexus LS600hL, a hybrid model, has 513,000 yuan ($75,065USD) added to its current price of 1.598 million yuan ($233,830). The prices of the Lexus IS-Series models have not risen this time.

The Lexus models will sell at new prices when the policy of new consumption taxes on imported cars is implemented later this year. The policy says the tax rate of vehicles with displacement of 3.0L to 4.0L will increase to 25% from 15%; the tax rate of 4.0L and above vehicles will rise to 40% from the current 20%.

I definitely had a bout of nausea while converting the numbers to US funds, though the prices were hardly reasonable to begin with.

Of course, it makes perfect sense in the eyes of the government officials as Consumers will be more likely to buy Chinese. Not only that, if foreign car manufacturers still want to tap into the world’s most promising market, they’ll have to build local factories.

[Source: Gasgoo]