[mlmpetert]

I get what youre saying but Lexus, Acura and Infinity were specifically designed for Americans as luxury cars whereas only the luxury packages of BMW and Mercedes models were introduced to America. Which makes me see a difference in someone saying a Lexus is just a Toyota with all the bells and whistles vs someone saying a Mercedes is just a Mercedes with all the bells and whistles.

There may be some cars that are completely different but a lot of these cars use the same frame and almost all have interchangeable parts from cars of their core brand for cars of their luxury brand. Like your TSX, the frame may not be from a Civic or my Accord, but its nearly the exact same car as the Japanese version of the Honda Accord, with an A instead of a H on its badge. I think a Lexus ES is just a fancier Camry that looks a little different. I guess its just all marketing.

I do however think it was a smart move by the Japanese brands, especially since Honda, Toyota and Nissan were once viewed by Americans solely as economy cars. The Hyundai Genesis looks like a damn nice car, but at the end of the day youre still driving around a Hyundai. Maybe they should have dropped the Hyundai name and came up with a new American sounding luxury name and called it something like the Apexis Genesis. Then people could say its not a Hyundai it’s an Apexis like many people say its not a Toyota it’s a Lexus. Hyundai has been doing a damn good job at rebranding and separating themselves from lower end car makers like Kia so it should be interesting how Americans view Hyundai in 10 or so years.

Either way Id personally prefer one of them fancy Toyota Lexus models over one of them fancy German cars.