Why Lexus EVs in SA might work
The idea of a Lexus EV might be niche. But for the brand, it’s a simple fulfilment of destiny that started in South Africa with hybrids a long time ago.
EVs are not having their moment in South Africa. Beyond all the marketing hype and slick recharging campaigns, Cars.co.za’s statisticians have done the numbers and EV sales are down.
Only wealthy South African new-car buyers can afford EVs. BYD’s Dolphin Surf is an outlier, priced below R400k, but it’s not really representative of real EV demand or supply curves in South Africa. The truth is that most EVs are wildly expensive, and South Africans are choosing turbodiesel double cabs and SUVs instead – as they have for most of the last 2 decades.
The market for PHEVs was phenomenal last year but there aren’t many legacy OEMs marketing PHEVs. It’s a market segment almost completely dominated – predictably – by the Chinese.
If the EV market is weakening and South African buyers with the budgets to buy those R1m+ EVs are choosing turbodiesel luxury double cabs and SUVs, this would be a terrible time to introduce your first EV model, right? Yes. But Toyota, and by implication Lexus, doesn’t follow conventional automotive market trends. Or rules.
The original ZA “new energy” brand
While many legacy car companies desperately tried to reposition their brands and marketing strategies a few years ago to appear like hybrid and EV powertrain innovators, Lexus didn’t. It didn’t have to.
Mute all the noise from industry consultants and policy advisors who have called the local EV demand market completely wrong since 2023 and you’ll sense the clarity from Lexus. It’s the only brand that has been marketing, selling, and servicing luxury hybrids in South Africa since the late 2000s. Don’t believe us? Here is a mint South African Lexus RX400h from 2009…
Toyota is an enormously powerful company. South Africans know that the Hilux dominates the new model market and that the Quantum moves more South Africans than any other mode of transport. There’s a broad misunderstanding of how deeply Toyota is invested in several powertrain technologies. Like a typical Japanese corporate entity, Toyota is more of a “show, don’t tell” kind of company.
You could argue that Lexus knows more about luxury hybrid and battery-powered vehicles than all the other premium brands combined. Lexus dealers are renowned for their excellent after-sales and service. And because Lexus has always been a relatively small brand in South Africa, but links into the enormous Toyota technical and resource network, Lexus has better data awareness and clarity around customer needs than most.
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It’s all about ownership
Lexus knows it can’t compete with BYD’s powertrain technology or the flood of Chery brands now marketing PHEVs and EVs in South Africa.
Engineers at all legacy car companies have obviously had the uncomfortable conversation with their boards. China has won the high-energy automotive battery war and has a technology advantage that won’t be matched, at an affordable cost, for decades.
So if Chinese EVs are so much better in terms of battery tech-to-cost, what is Lexus doing by launching a luxury crossover EV into a South African EV market that’s down more than 10% year-on-year? It’s all about that unquantifiable thing that automotive marketing people love to talk about but very few can explain: brand equity. Lexus has it in abundance.
“Luxury” Toyota means something
Toyota’s immense success in South Africa, with 25% market share and dominance in many of the segments it sells into, has enabled it to carry low-volume Lexus as a niche brand. That’s meant that, even with trivial sales, Lexus still provides the calibre of luxury ownership and service experience that made it such a success in the world’s most demanding luxury car market: the USA.
Wealthy people without an image issue buy Lexus. They know you get Toyota-grade technical support and a luxury brand experience without the attitude of certain European brands. And that matters even more if you are a brand trying to move EVs in a market where only wealthy people can afford them.
Wealthy car buyers know they will suffer significant vehicle depreciation. But they don’t want to suffer vehicle downtime because of silly electronic or powertrain gremlins. And that’s where the Lexus confidence becomes a thing.
How many RX400/450h and LS600h nightmare stories do you know? Exactly – none. If there is resistance to owning a luxury vehicle with a battery powertrain or battery elements in the powertrain, it doesn’t really apply to the brand.
The RX400h proved what Lexus was capable of in terms of “new energy” vehicles. These were amazingly well-built crossovers and a true alternative to the very best BMW X5 and Mercedes-Benz ML. Technology has advanced dramatically since those first RX400h models. But has the South African luxury market advanced with it?
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What is the first ZA Lexus EV about?
As a product, there’s nothing spectacular about the RZ. You could argue that the GS450h from 2008 was a much more advanced car. When it was launched, there was nothing else with such an advanced powertrain and drivetrain. It offered exemplary Lexus build quality and a very differentiated driving experience: matchless roll-on overtaking acceleration on the highway and silent, high-efficiency driving economy in heavy traffic.
The RZ450e has a 77 kWh battery pack with a proven but not exceptional lithium-ion chemistry. It’s the default standard for most luxury brands outside China. But the latest Chinese automotive-grade battery chemistries have evolved to sodium-ion and blended LFP chemistries.
There’s nothing in the numbers that makes the RX 450e exceptional. Its claimed 500 km range is average for EVs of a similar price. Sure, the 0-100 kph acceleration is quick at 5.3 seconds, but that’s a given for any EV. And the top speed of 160 kph is similarly limited for most other luxury crossovers.
What matters with the RX 450e is that it’s made by Lexus. Build quality is still a brand mission in a way that is absent in some other legacy luxury car brands.
The Lexus difference matters
Unless you are an industry expert, it’s difficult to understand how much European brands have cheapened the quality of interior trim, finishes and panel fixtures. But it’s telling after a few thousand kilometres, especially on rough South African roads, when creaks start to become annoying. Or you realise how cheap most of the cabin trim is when you are confronted with it daily.
Lexus isn’t like that. The design language might be a bit messy but what really matters is the cabin architecture and build quality. Spend time in a Lexus, even the smaller versions, and everything you touch feels like it’s quality and, more importantly, made to last for 20 years or more.
That’s why Lexus South Africa can be so boldly contrarian with its RX 450e. Launching a Lexus EV crossover into one of the world’s weakest EV markets with confidence. Because people who might be EV-curious want to buy one that feels like a quality luxury car, not a tactile-screen spacecraft that nobody knows how to deal with if it triggers an elementary error code.
