????據說美國人最愛說的三大謊話是：1. 不速之客對房主說：“我是政府派來幫助你的。”2. 欠錢的人對討債的人說：“我已經把支票寄給你了。”3. 男人對女人說：“天亮以后我依然尊重你。”雷克薩斯（Lexus）出品的汽車在機械工藝上無懈可擊，但在設計上缺乏新意。而雷克薩斯公司多年以來一直承諾會把設計做得更大膽些，更有感情色彩一些，但事實卻是雷聲大雨點小。

????因為這種話雷克薩斯已經說了快十年了。

????汽車網站Just-auto.com早在2004年4月13日的報道中就寫道：“雷克薩斯有望推出造型更加大膽的汽車。雷克薩斯集團副總裁兼總經理丹尼斯?克萊門茨對路透社（Reuters）透露：‘我們的顧客告訴我們，他們希望我們推出一款更富有感情色彩、更加高雅的設計。’”

????新加坡網站AsiaOne Marketing在2007年11月28日的文章中也曾寫道：“雷克薩斯希望在轎車設計中融入情感色彩，將品牌帶到更高的檔次。雷克薩斯預計不久將推出更多的高性能運動車型。雷克薩斯不僅是要制造能跑得更快的汽車，它的目標是要在品牌中注入更多的情感色彩。”

????澳洲汽車網站The Motor Report2011年7月23日又撰文寫道：“雷克薩斯承諾其新車的造型設計將秉持更加清晰和富有情感色彩的設計理念。雷克薩斯的老板馬克?坦普林稱：‘我們的客戶一直在期盼一款在各方面都更加熱烈的新雷克薩斯GS轎車。’”

????看到這個怪圈了嗎？雷克薩斯的設計一貫缺乏想象力，雷克薩斯也一直承諾要改變這種局面，但是卻一直達不到自己定下的標準，也無法滿足忠實顧客的要求。

????上周雷克薩斯美國公司的老板馬克?坦普林來到紐約接受訪問。不知道公司品牌情商較低這個事實是否讓他覺得有些尷尬，反正他沒有表現出來。

????因為這些無形的因素，雷克薩斯一直不能穩坐全球豪車品牌的第一排交椅。坦普林必然像他的前任一樣覺得沮喪。

????雷克薩斯是日本豐田汽車（Toyota）旗下的一個高端品牌，今年已有22年的歷史，但仍是所有豪車品牌中最年輕的一個【最老的是梅塞德斯奔馳（Mercedes-Benz），今年已有125歲了】。盡管雷克薩斯在客戶服務、質量和可靠性上絲毫不遜于它的競爭對手，甚至有過之而無不及，但是雷克薩斯卻從未達到過其它高端品牌的那種經典地位，這種超然的地位是風格、歷史沉淀和駕乘體驗的神秘結晶。

????雷克薩斯面臨新車型青黃不接的窘境時，這種缺陷就變得尤為明顯了，比如今年就是如此。今年十月，雷克薩斯的銷量暴跌17%，要知道以往十月份的雷克薩斯銷售是很火爆的。相比之下，梅塞德斯奔馳的銷量上升了10%，寶馬（BMW）上升了12%，最近快速崛起的奧迪（Audi）更是躍升了15%。

????與前幾年相比，雷克薩斯現在正在邁出實實在在的步伐，著手解決情感色彩欠缺的問題，只是不知道這次他們的誠意有多大。例如今年10月，雷克薩斯的一款超跑LFA開始接受訂購。LFA的參數強大得讓人瞠目結舌：LFA是一款手工打造的碳纖維雙座跑車，搭載了一個10汽缸引擎，最高時速達每小時202英里。當然它的價格同樣讓人瞠目：每臺LFA的售價為3,750萬日元（即35萬美元）。

????雷克薩斯LFA堪稱所謂“光環車型”（或曰“旗艦車型”）的活標本。它的存在沒有什么合理的商業依據，完全就是為了在營銷計劃中打奢華牌，使雷克薩斯產品線里的其它車型都跟著沾光，從而改變消費者對這個品牌的認知。

????靠超跑來做噱頭，這在豪華車品牌的營銷上是件司空見慣的事。但超跑的銷售周期很短，它們可能在一段時間內吸引了公眾的注意，但只要新的超跑一上市，它就會迅速失寵。比如日產（Nissan）的GT-R跑車，渾名叫做“哥斯拉”（Godzilla），它在2007年剛剛推出時是全業界討論的焦點，但時隔不久就成了明日黃花。

????此外，LFA與雷克薩斯旗下的其它車型不太搭調，因為雷克薩斯常常驕傲地宣傳自己比其他豪車品牌擁有更多的混合動力車型。雷克薩斯把LFA稱為檢測新技術的試驗臺，但是我們恐怕很難在量產車的產品線里看到12汽缸引擎或碳纖維車身這些不切實際的技術。

????LFA也讓典型的雷克薩斯車主望而卻步。這些女性車主駕駛RX跨界車。它是雷克薩斯賣得最火的一款車型，深受顧客歡迎，貢獻了雷克薩斯總銷量的40%。如果美劇《絕望的主婦》（Desperate Housewives）里需要一款道具車，那他們一定會選擇雷克薩斯RX。從紐約的卡斯戴爾，到加州的圣莫尼卡，但凡是美國的高檔住宅區，總能看到雷克薩斯RX的身影。但我們很難想象一個風韻少婦開著一輛LFA會是什么樣子——除非她是F1女車手丹妮卡?帕特里克。

????雷克薩斯已經信心十足地做好了銷量反彈的準備。除了LFA之外，雷克薩斯還打算推出一系列經過重新設計的車型，打頭陣就是GS運動型轎車。這是一個積極的跡象。此外雷克薩斯還在燃油經濟性上具有優勢。它的產品線中已經有五款混合動力車型，所以它不必像它的競爭對手一樣，為了滿足燃油經濟性標準而急著要給車型瘦身減排。坦普林稱，雷克薩斯不會推出比現有車型更小的車型。

????但是雷克薩斯是否能夠推出更加具有感情色彩的轎車？只能讓時間去回答了。我們從來沒聽過奔馳或寶馬公司談論設計上的感情色彩問題，因為感情色彩已經融入了它們的基因里。雷克薩斯當下可能更應該在自己最擅長的事情上下工夫——也就是質量、可靠性和客戶服務，同時祈禱它與顧客的情感聯系能夠水到渠成。

????譯者：樸成奎

????They may not rank with "I'm from the government, and I'm here to help you," or "The check is in the mail," or "I'll respect you in the morning," but promises over the years from Lexus that it will make its mechanically impeccable vehicles more daring and emotional in their design are beginning to have an empty ring about them.

????Lexus has been saying the same thing for nearly a decade:

????Just-auto.com April 13, 2004. "Expect more boldly styled cars from Lexus, Lexus group vice president and general manager Dennis Clements told Reuters. "'Our customers have told us they're looking for a more emotional and elegant design.'"

????AsiaOne Marketing," Nov. 28, 2007: "Lexus shifts into higher gear with play on emotions. More Lexus high-performance sports models can be expected in the near future and it will be more than just that the Japanese luxury carmaker wants to make faster cars -- the goal is to inject more emotion into the marque."

????The Motor Report, July 23, 2011 "Lexus promises a more defined and emotional design philosophy for the new sedan's styling. 'Our customers have been waiting for a new GS that's more intense in every way,' Lexus boss Mark Templin said."

????See a pattern here? Lexus has been promising to do something about its unimaginative design but has been unable to live up to its own standards or the demands of conquest customers.

????U.S. boss Templin came to New York to talk up Lexus last week, and if he felt uncomfortable about the shortcomings of its emotional intelligence, he didn't show it.

????Like his predecessors in the Lexus job, however, he must be frustrated by the brand's inability to establish itself solidly in the top rank of global luxury brands because of something so intangible.

????At 22 years old, Toyota's (TM) high-end division is the youngest of the upscale brands. (Mercedes-Benz, 125 this year, is the oldest.) While it has equaled or surpassed its competitors in customer service, quality, and reliability, Lexus has never achieved that iconic status that comes from a mystical combination of style, heritage, and driving dynamics.

????That shortcoming becomes especially apparent when Lexus suffers a drought of new models, such as it has this year. Through October, it has been looking at a steep 17% decline in sales in an otherwise strong luxury market. By comparison, Mercedes sales have climbed 10% this year, BMW 12%, and fast-rising Audi 15%.

????In contrast to previous years, Lexus is taking some concrete steps to address its emotional shortcomings, although it is unclear how much they will contribute. In October, for instance, it began accepting orders for a Lexus supercar, the LFA. Its specifications are jaw dropping: Powered by a 10-cylinder engine, the hand-built carbon-fiber two-seater is capable of a top speed of 202 miles per hour. The price is equally jaw dropping: 37.5 million yen or $350,000.

????The LFA is the living definition of the halo car. With no rational business case attached to it, it exists entirely as an expense item in a marketing plan, designed to suffuse the rest of the Lexus lineup in a favorable glow and thereby change perceptions about it.

????But supercars have become as common as subvented leases in promoting luxury brands and tend to have short sell-by dates. They command public attention only until the next supercar comes along. The Nissan GT-R, nicknamed "Godzilla," was the talk of the industry when it came out in 2007, but more lately has been filed under the heading of "yesterday's news."

????Besides, the LFA seems weirdly out of phase with the rest of Lexus's lineup, since Lexus prides itself on having more hybrids than any other luxury car brand. Lexus calls the LFA a test bed for new technology, but it is hard to see 12-cylinder engines or carbon-fiber bodies finding their way into the model range.

????The LFA stands as kind of a rebuke to the typical Lexus owner: She drives an RX crossover, the most popular Lexus, and the one model that contributes 40% of Lexus sales. If Desperate Housewives had a show car, it would be the RX, popular in upscale suburbs from Scarsdale to Santa Monica. But it is hard to imagine one of its owners getting behind the wheel of an LFA unless her name is Danica Patrick.

????The LFA aside, Lexus is poised to experience a spurt in sales as it launches a flurry of redesigned models, beginning with the GS sport sedan. That's a positive. It also has an edge in fuel economy. Thanks to the presence of five hybrids in its lineup, it doesn't face the same pressure as its competitors to downsize its models to meet fuel economy standards. Templin says Lexus will be offering no cars smaller than ones it already sells.

????But more emotional Lexus cars? We'll have to see. You never hear Mercedes or BMW talking about their emotional design. It's part of their genetic code. Lexus may just have to focus on what it does best -- quality, reliability, customer service -- and hope that its strong connection with its customers comes along that way.