INTERVIEW: Alain Uyttenhoven, Head of Lexus Europe - just-auto.com (subscription)
Russia, Lexus ' number one market in its European region, might be down, but UK sales are up strongly. On balance then, 2014 has been a good year , according to the brand's Head of Europe. Also in the room is Lexus UK's MD Richard Balshaw, who answers:. It's our fourth consecutive year of growth but you have to consider that this followed quite a large fall after the financial crisis. This year will be the first full year for the new IS so that is another factor. Up to the end of October we were up 25% year on year and 52% compared to October 2013. And that's before any NX sales. NX will carry us to a slightly higher growth rate by the end of 2014. . Would you say 2015 will be a record year for Lexus in the UK. RB: More likely 2016. Why not next year. RB: The NX is a big hit worldwide so there is some supply restriction on it, and there are more models coming into the range in 2016. Our previous record was 15,200, set in 2007. How is the year for Lexus so far across those combined 56 markets... Next year will be about 60,000 and for the whole of Europe this should be a record year. Source: www.just-auto.com
