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Lexus parts prices cut in China amidst antitrust fears

It's been a topsy-turvy summer for foreign businesses in China ever since that country's National Development and Reform Commission and State Administration for Industry & Commerce launched a horde of investigations into anti-monopoly practices. When the law outlining monopolistic behavior was passed in 2008 foreign companies appreciated it, expecting it to illuminate some of the more opaque corners of Chinese government enforcement. That hasn't exactly been the case, and now as more than 1,000 auto-sector firms get investigated and pay huge fines to settle the nebulous charge of having prices that are too high, that hoped-for clarity is all but gone.
A recent news report said Audi, Chrysler and Daimler "would be punished for unspecified violations" concerning the prices of spare parts. Earlier this month Toyota said that Lexus China was being looked at, and before there's been any public notification of punishment Lexus has decided to lower the price of its replacement parts. From next month, customers will save an average of 26 percent on roughly 15,000 parts. It's unknown whether the move will appease authorities enough to end the investigation, which outside analysts have said targets foreign firms in China over domestic industry.

Lexus to offer no-haggle policy at dealers

The automotive world hasn't seen no-haggle pricing in the US since Saturn collapsed in 2009, but Lexus is about to bring it back. The idea originated in company discussions with dealers two years ago, with dealers saying that a segment of potential buyers didn't enjoy negotiating a price. In order to find out how firm pricing will alter the landscape, 12 Lexus dealers will begin the pilot project at the beginning of 2016. That means new and used cars, parts, and service will come with fixed prices, according to the Detroit Free Press. Jeff Bracken, general manager of the Lexus brand, held up a Phoenix Toyota dealer as a success story, noting that the dealer's no-haggle strategy has worked for 12 years. Outside consultants will train employees at the selected outlets, and its effectiveness will be examined nearly every week. Prices can be changed, "but the expectation is that they remain unchanged for months at a time," and any incentives can still be deducted from that set price. The key to getting usable results - whether the program sticks around or not - is that those 12 dealers have to accept that some customers are going to walk out the door if they can't get the deal they want. Bracken said he expects sales and market share to decline some once the project begins, but only for a few months. After customers get accustomed to it, Bracken said he expects the initiative to be a success and expand to other company dealerships in 2017, even if not all Lexus dealers sign on. Related Video: News Source: Detroit Free PressImage Credit: Mike Windle/Getty Images for Pandora Media, Inc. Lexus Car Buying Car Dealers Used Car Buying Luxury

Bosch builds an infotainment system that just might not suck

As far as we've come with in-car infotainment and interfaces over the past decade or so, we still have a long way to go — as most current systems show. Whether it's high-end brands like Mercedes-Benz with its kludgy COMAND system, which we hope will be replaced with the MBUX platform revealed at CES, or more mainstream vehicles like Hondas (with their frustrating, knobless Display Audio interface), getting the kind of content and ease of use in the car that we're used to having on other connected devices is far too complex and sometimes costly. While Apple and Google have tried to ride to the rescue with CarPlay and Android Auto, respectively, they're limited solutions. No automaker or tech supplier has been able to deliver an easy, economical, flexible and non-distracting infotainment solution. But Bosch could be closing in on this elusive goal, given the digital cockpit concept demo I recently received at CES. Displayed in a Cadillac Escalade, the concept featured five interconnected color screens: one in the instrument cluster, two in the center console, and two more in the front-seat headrest for second-row passengers. The digital cockpit concept demo had cool features such as haptic-feedback touch-screen controls that created an edge-like feeling similar to a physical button, facial recognition to confirm driver credentials, and the intelligence to know the location of a phone in the car to lock it out to keep the driver from texting. The most significant aspect of the Bosch digital cockpit concept wasn't visible — but shows the company's vision for a future of seamless, convenient, cost-effective and safe in-car infotainment. It's powered by a single electronic control unit (ECU) that can simultaneously run multiple operating systems and also separates vehicle and infotainment controls for critical safety and cybersecurity reasons. Most modern cars can have as many as 100 separate ECUs, Philip Ventimiglia, product manager for Bosch Car Multimedia North America, explained at CES, and several just for infotainment functions. "The goal is to reduce that to about 10 so that we can save cost throughout the vehicle and enable new technologies," he added. "OEMs want to put more technology into cars, but it costs money," Ventimiglia said.