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Lexus eschews production in China over quality concerns

One of the more popular trends in the auto industry is setting up production operations in China. Mainstream manufacturers like Ford, General Motors and Volkswagen have done it, and even luxury marques like Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz have or will soon have manufacturing ops in the People's Republic.
One company that isn't building cars in China, though, is Lexus. The Toyota-owned luxury brand still manufactures all of its vehicles in Japan (aside from a few RXs, which are built at a Toyota factory in Canada). According to Tokuo Fukuichi, Lexus just isn't ready to build cars there yet.
"The German Three have a brand image that they have cultivated over the past century in their long history, but Lexus is not in people's minds like that yet," Fukuichi-san told Reuters UK.

Lexus pushing upmarket as others move down, LF-LC production hinted [w/video]

Jeff Bracken, Lexus' US group vice president and general manager, knows his company lost its position as America's biggest luxury brand back in 2011, and it's a mantle that his employer probably won't be getting back any time soon. That's because Lexus is electing not to follow the luxury segment's downmarket trend any more than its $32,500 CT 200h hybrid hatchback. "Since we won't be going down below $30,000, it will be very difficult for us to ever regain luxury leadership," Bracken admitted on Autoline After Hours late last week.
Rivals Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi all have new low-end entries on sale or in the wings to entice new buyers and fortify their CAFE scores, but Lexus has Toyota and Scion to capture sales underneath its lineup. Instead, Bracken hints that Lexus is going upmarket and higher-performance, fueling ongoing rumors of a LFA successor, or perhaps a new offering based on the lauded 2012 LF-LC coupe concept shown above, a production version of which could also slot in where the unloved SC convertible left off. "We need to begin bringing to market luxury performance... higher performance vehicles. IS-F certainly was the beginning of that, maybe on the lower end," says Bracken.
Later in the online video interview show, Bracken gets even more candid:

2014 Lexus CT shows new face on each side of the Pacific [w/video]

Earlier today, Lexus officially took the wraps off its 2014 CT 200h at the Guangzhou Motor Show, and now we've gotten a chance to inspect the updated hybrid hatchback right here at the LA Auto Show.
As expected, the most prominent change made to the CT's styling is the addition of Lexus' signature spindle grille. Additional changes include new wheel options and revised front and rear fascias, but our favorite update to the car is to the headlights, where there is no longer a gap in the middle of the LED running lights. The luxury hatchback has also received some changes to the cabin, including an updated instrument gauge cluster, a new fixed nav screen that replaces the previous folding unit and a freshened combination of cabin materials.
No changes have been made to the CT's hybrid powertrain, meaning the model will carry on with a 134-horsepower 1.8-liter Atkinson-cycle four-cylinder paired with a drive motor and an electronic continuously variable transmission. Fuel economy ratings likely won't stray too much from the 2013 model's 43 miles per gallon city and 40 mpg highway ratings.