Lexus New York - Are Lexus cars just expensive Toyotas?

Lexus New York models Lexus GX470  versus Lexus New York models

When it first began, the phenomenon we now know as Lexus cars was not reaaly associated with Toyota. Lexus was an example of a new startegy Japanese manufacturers were using to move up the automotive food chain from economy car makers to luxury car makers.  Nissan launched Infiniti with the first Q40 and Toyota launched Lexus with its LS model. Soon after Honda would introduce us to Acura. Picture the face of luxury in New York and you picture stock brokers in Mercedes, BMW, and Audi automobiles. Those were precisely the customers that were targeted by New York Lexus dealers as the brand grew.  With that growth more consumers became aware of Lexus cars and more was made of the fact that they were made by Toyota. The idea from other car companies was to plant the seed of doubt in a consumer before they entered the Lexus dealership or any of the other luxury brands from Japan. To have a potential Lexus buyer concerned that they were in essence paying a luxury tax on what was really a fancy Toyota.

As more Lexus models have hit the market Lexus dealers in new York have to admit some of them bare a striking resemblance to Toyota models. For this reason I am going to evaluate the validity of any consumer hesitating because they feel they could get the same car for a much lower price. In the end it should be obvious that there is considerable difference between a Lexus and Toyota models.