Malaysian Lexus customers will be surprised to see some Lexus dealers offering 6 figure discounts.
When it comes to the premium car game in Malaysia, each brand has its own strengths and strategies. Some will insist on avoiding discounts at all costs in order to preserve resale value and brand value. Others will push constant promotions – either to keep factories productive or to make the money back in after sales. With Lexus in Malaysia, the game has always been about low volume and high value. They’re the last premium brand that has absolutely abstained from local assembly. Volvo Cars, Mercedes-Benz, and BMW have been carrying out local assembly for decades. Porsche and Audi got into the game in limited numbers post-Covid. Now, Lexus finds itself in a crowded and competitive market and are finally beginning to feel the pressure and offer discounts, often extremely high ones.
Take for example a recent post from Lexus Johor. Their salesperson, Titan Ng, posted a number of promos earlier this month ad some of these discounts look to be rather high.
The Lexus RX, arguably the most popular Lexus model in Malaysia doesn’t seem to have a discounted price, at least not according to the promotional material. It probably doesn’t need one, as the last time we checked the RX was priced really competitively despite being fully-imported and was doing quite well against rivals such as the Volvo XC90, Mercedes-Benz GLE and BMW X5.
The Lexus NX in any other market would have been the volume player for the brand. Even its rivals from Germany seem to put the largest emphasis on this class of car. The Mercedes-Benz GLC and BMW X3 are both some of the best selling premium makes in recent years. However the NX has never been able to hit the same kind of numbers due to its status as a fully-imported vehicle. Now with RM30,000 off, this sportier new generation model might be a lot more appealing to some buyers.
The Lexus LBX is an all-new nameplate and it’s supposed to be the spiritual successor to the Lexus CT200h from over a decade ago. In our review, we found it quite successful in improving on the CT200h’s formula but also found it to be too expensive and too small to be easy to recommend. The Lexus LBX is on promo now with RM45,000 off, possibly bringing its price down to the low RM2XX,XXXs. It’s still pricey, but it’s an easier pill to swallow.
Finally, we have the Lexus RZ 450e – the only all-electric offering from Lexus. In fact, it’s the only zero emissions vehicle you can buy from the Toyota family in Malaysia. When launched it was priced at RM429,888. Today, with fewer than 100 units on the road, the Lexus RZ 450e is receiving an unprecedented RM100,000 discount to clear remaining units. At RM329,888, it’s still not GREAT VALUE against most other EVs, especially considering the fact that you could pick up an Audi Q8 e-tron EV for less than RM300,000.
