Lexus Plus Fixed Price Program Moving Slowly, But Surely
A year into the no-haggle pricing program, the transition is moving smoothly.
While it’s not exactly a runaway hit, progress is smooth and steady on the Lexus Plus program one year in. Lexus Plus is a no-haggle, transparent pricing program that’s slowly trickling into the luxury brand. So far there are only 13 Lexus dealers out of 237 that have adopted the new model. One of them is JM Lexus in Margate, Florida, the top Lexus dealer in the country.
You may be wondering why Lexus is trying to be more like Saturn. It’s all about the customer having a single point of contact with the dealer. When you go in to buy a Lexus at a Lexus Plus dealer, you’ll only work with the salesperson in a simple, straightforward transaction rather than getting shuffled around to different people before you can drive away in your new luxury car. The fixed price program also applies to used cars, parts, and service.
Lexus is just fine with it starting small so they can figure out exactly how it’s going to work before widespread adoption of Lexus Plus. If something goes really wrong, they’d much rather have it affect a small percentage of their dealers rather than the whole network.
“Not only are dealers learning in this process, we too as a manufacturer are learning how to better support them in this transition,” Lexus general manager of future initiatives Greg Kitzens told Automotive News, “It's one of those things where you've really got to burn the ship. You're not going back, and if you've got personnel that are used to doing business very traditionally, they may not fit into the Lexus Plus process.”
Lexus is playing the long game with the idea that in the near future, buying a car will be like buying something on Amazon. People will want to just pay the price they see on the screen and be done with it. Lexus has a history of satisfying their customers with a positive dealer experience and knowing what the luxury market wants before they know they want it. This program could fall flat or it could be the biggest contribution to the luxury car market by Lexus since the RX.
