Enzo Alessi and his superb team are working from pop-up premises on our ground floor – the area we normally use for presentation of new Lexus vehicles to their owners.)
Some say the changes will be forever, but I disagree. ‘Normality’ will return as supply ramps up, and with it will come trading conditions which will favour those who have been astute during the new vehicle drought we are now enduring. Two things are certain:
Believing that used vehicle values will remain artificially high, as they now are, will cause massive disappointment when purchasers join the end of a long queue to secure their next new car.
• the bubble which currently is inflating the price of used vehicles will burst when new stock is again available and
Right now, though, we think it’s time to recalibrate to ensure our guest’s unique experience of Lexus ownership continues unabated, and more than ever, we’re able to help.
For many of our Sydney City Lexus guests, the purchase of their new Lexus has become to a degree enjoyably intuitive.
SYDNEY CITY LEXUS
Sydney City Lexus has used the Covid-19 disruptions to embark on our biggest ever recalibration of the way we do business and the premises from which we conduct it. We recently opened our next-generation Lexus dealership at 36 Paramatta Road Glebe, and if you walked into our mothership at 824 Bourke Street Waterloo this week, you’d find it is an empty shell. That’s because we’re completely refitting it to make it the perfect, exclusive environment to inspect our exhilarating luxury Lexus range. (Mind you - we’re still very much open for business.
TIMEINSIGHTTORECALIBRATE
• it makes sound financial sense not to miss a model cycle or a planned lifecycle change to your new vehicle.
DealerJohSincerely,nRoca,Principal
–A REALISTIC LUXURY PERSPECTIVE
The most important consideration in any transaction is the change-over price from your current vehicle to your new one. To miss a model cycle can create an uncomfortable bridge.
The changes we are making are more than progressive, they’re revolutionary and in keeping with the changing face of future automobile ownership. The pandemic, and the supply chain interruptions it sparked, have severely curtailed the normal cycle of vehicle ownership and new model upgrades.
From John Roca, Dealer Principal
The astute way to maintain maximum investment value in your current vehicle is to order your new car now to be sure of delivery in a timely and cost-effective manner.
There’s a next generation luxury Lexus RX SUV coming this year and we at Sydney City Lexus have seldom been as excited – and neither have our guests.
Occupants are given the luxury of seats which have even more support than previous generations, with triple zone independent temperature control throughout their cabin.
Now the fifth generation RX is primed to once again become the pioneer of a revolutionary category which defines the marriage of limousine standard luxury with the practicality of an all-purpose estate vehicle.
Proactive Driving Assist (PDA), combined with a protocol called Lexus Teammate deliver a raft of Advance Drive and Advanced Park technologies to support what Lexus terms “comfortable mobility”. It’s all practical assistance. Advance Drive, for example, helps reduce driver fatigue in traffic jams.
Intuitive advanced safety technologies provide occupants with a unique safety experience.
We sold the first RX SUV back in 2003 when it set the standard for luxury cross-over vehicles. Since then, more than 40,000 have been delivered in Australia, each version a major progression and loved by its owners.
Like our guests, we’re on tenterhooks for the arrival of the first vehicle.
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There are 10 exterior and five interior color combinations – the most comprehensive yet offered. Sydney City Lexus has been overwhelmed with enquiry and expressions of interest.
The flagship RX 500h F Sport represents the next step in Lexus’ Electrified vision with the introduction of both leading-performance hybrid (HEV) and plugin hybrid (PHEV) versions in selected global markets.
The exclusive signature spindle grille, emblematic of the Lexus brand, has evolved into a new expression called the spindle body and the strength of the design is superb in its execution.
NEW LEXUS RX RESETS LUXURY SUV BENCHMARK
Safe Exit Assist (SEA) detects vehicles, including bicycles, coming from behind and prevents the RX's door being opened in their path.
The new RX has more interior space, more cabin comfort, more luggage capacity – and it combines all that with exhilarating e-performance.
A DELUXE UXIT’S GROWN UP
A 12.3inch HD touchless multi-media display screen replaces the previous 10.3inch version.
So many owners of Lexus’ compact luxury UX SUV value it for just that – its ability to provide all those things they prize in a Lexus but delivered in a package with a relatively small footprint. For many of our guests it’s the ideal town car, stylish, practical, and making a statement yet at the same time ultra-maneuverable.
The DAB+ digital radio system now plays through 10 speakers-two more than previous, and UX incorporates the Hey Lexus voice recognition function so welcomed on other Lexus models. There’s visual enhancement as well.
Body colored wheel arches and aluminum trim for the driver’s footrest add to the sporty aesthetics. We look forward to showing UX to our guests.
Exhilarating performance has been enhanced with recalibration of the Electric Power Steering (EPS) and damping systems combined with an increase in body stiffness.
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Next generation UX arrives at Sydney City Lexus this quarter with more than 20 upgrades and improvements. The revolutionary Lexus Safety system provides UX with everything from the exclusive underbody transparent display function on its Panoramic View Monitor, to an improved millimetre-wave radar function on its pre-collision system.
Now UX is growing up, not in size, but in the number of evolutionary inclusions that Lexus progressively makes to all its models to ensure they continue to provide leading performance.
CUSTOMER A NEW SERVICE FOR AIPORT LAYOVERS
The cars Royale mainly uses are Lexus, most supplied by Sydney City Lexus, and we’re proud to say they are the dominant brand in John’s 100 strong multi-brand fleet.
John Bartolotta, owner of Royale Limousines, Australia’s largest family-owned limousine hire company has found a service he “invented” years ago has come into great demand as Australia’s airlines struggle to regain on-time efficiency.
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He’s offering his fleet to customers for flexible lay-over use so that instead of being stranded at airports they can sight-see, go to lunch, or make business use of their unintended downtime.
John’s limousine fleet is principally made up of the Lexus ES saloon range with superb rear leg room and massive luggage space – both a benefit to the limousine industry, especially as long wheelbase cars from the now redundant local manufacturing industry are coming to the end of their operational life. “We also have the RX SUV on fleet along with a number of LS600 limousines for VIP and corporate use, “John said.
John started his business in 1989, the year Lexus first came to Australia, and one of his first contacts was with our principal John Roca, who for a time was chief executive of Lexus Australia.
“We have a policy of turning over our vehicles every three years but with Lexus we make it five, “ John said. “It’s not just that they provide leading performance, we also have a great deal of difficulty getting our drivers to part with them.”
EXCLUSIVE OFFER Mention Sydney City Lexus Newsletter to your Royale Limousines booking contact to receive a 10% discount on any airport transfers. Contact the team at Royale Limousines for full terms and conditions.
“You follow the man,” John Bartolotta said of John Roca. “It helps if he’s also representing the cars you want to own.”
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Any layover greater than five hours – and these days it seems there are plenty – is a candidate for Royale’s flexi-service, and demand is increasing exponentially.
Chris Waller could not contain his pride either: “They treated us like Royalty, “he said of the Royal Ascot organizing committee, “and I had the opportunity to meet Her Majesty which just adds that special touch.”
James won three of ten races at Royal Ascot, and he rates the King’s Stand Stakes victory as up there, almost, with the Lexus Melbourne Cup and the Everest.
Congratulations to them both, and to Nature Strip.
OUR COLORS WIN AT ROYAL ASCOT
Entries will soon close for Sydney City Lexus’ Golf Day Invitational at the exclusive Lakes Golf Club on 8 September. Our invitational has become one of the most sought of our guest-engagement activities and for good reason. The Lakes is a pre-eminent private club, host to seven Australian Opens and to play there is a pleasure and privilege for any golfer –and a serious challenge for those who are serious. We’re pleased also to confirm that Lexus Australia has continued as naming rights partner for the Lexus Melbourne Cup following a two-year extension with the Victorian Racing Club. That means the iconic Cup will soon visit Sydney City Lexus’ showrooms, and we’ll be delighted to invite our equestrian-enthusiast guests to come and see it for themselves.
A delighted James,30, surely now one of his country’s greatest jockeys, said in his laconic way: “It all went very smoothly, like an exercise gallop, building all the way”. And all the while James faced the many cameras on him, he was proudly wearing our “colors”: “Sydney City Lexus”, on the skivvy collar around his neck revealed beneath his racing colors.
Sometimes pride just swells in us. In mid-June Sydney City Lexus ambassador James McDonald, winner of the Lexus Melbourne Cup and of The Everest, guided Australian horse Nature Strip to a dominant win in the $850,000 King’s Stand Stakes at Royal Ascot.
Queensland trainer Chris Waller took the 7year old to Britain’s most valuable race meeting on behalf of its 17person syndicate to “showcase the horse” and realise a dream. Nature Strip dominated the 1000metre sprint, to become the first Australian horse to win at Royal Ascot in ten years, after the mighty Black Caviar, and to cement its place as the world’s greatest sprinter.
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HUGE DEMAND FOR OUR CUSTOMER EVENTS
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Shared values mean everything to us in our business.
Sydney City Lexus prides itself not only on its commitment to customer care, but also on the enduring associations we’ve been able to make over the years. One of those friendships is with master chef Luke Mangan OAM who is a Sydney City Lexus ambassador, not only because of his culinary success but also because he’s a top bloke.
Luke’s own endeavors help us expand our circle of Thistrust.year, coming out of Covid, he’s opened his re-invented Luke’s Kitchen in the new Kimpton Hotel in the Sydney CBD. San Francisco based Kimpton features consistently on Fortune Magazine’s ‘100 Best Companies to Work For’, and JD Power, which also monitors the motor industry, rates Kimpton ‘Highest in Guest Satisfaction’.
SYDNEY CITY LEXUS INVITES YOU TO LUKE’S KITCHEN
Luke’s Kitchen adds proudly to Luke’s existing restaurant portfolio which includes the highly acclaimed Hilton Glass, now a Sydney institution. We’re working with Luke to provide our Sydney City Lexus guests with discounted access to his restaurants. We expect soon to be able to reach out with further information.
“First and foremost, I wanted to help grow Glebe, “Peter said. “I’ve been here 12 years, starting as a service advisor, and this place is like home to me, and my 30 colleagues (his reports) are like family.
“Marrying Elyce was made easier because my father-in-law is a committed Toyota-man, and he reckoned my job with Sydney City made me the son-in-law he always wanted. “Now its going to be even better when I upgrade him to Lexus.”
He’s a former national drag racing champion –a sport he gave up when he crossed the quarter mile finish line sideways at 260kmh when his car engine failed, slamming him into a wall. But only after he’d recorded a winning ET (elapsed time) of 8.48 seconds.
“I married (Elyce) and we have two beautiful boys, Cristian 6, and Thomas ,4, and I have a career I never want to give up – just make it better.
PETER
Peter knows his stuff.
“Joining Sydney City was the start of a new life for me,” he said.
“The more we compete with each other, the more we’re doing the right thing by our guests, “he said.
Then the solution became clear: Peter, the most ambitious person you’ll meet, is capable of doing both jobs. And that’s why, uniquely in the Lexus family, Peter wears two hats-but has one clear goal: to be the best there is.
TOPLANSPLEASE
“Together we can make the new Sydney City Lexus service facility every bit as good as the one at Waterloo (our other site).”
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Peter was one of the instigators of our ‘CITNOW’ system in which every guest receives an SMS/ EMAIL video of their car during service showing them exactly what needs to be done and explaining “Transparencywhy.and honesty are the two key components of establishing a long-term relationship with our guests- it’s all based on trust,” Peter said.
It’s always a thrill to be able to promote good people within our business. Peter Demetre has been the highly motivated service manager of Sydney City Toyota’s Glebe operation for more than 10 years. He’s driven that operation to Number One in Toyota’s national customer satisfaction surveys on several occasions. So, when he put his hand up to become Service Manager of our new Glebe Lexus facility we had a difficult decision – give him the promotion he so richly deserves but lose him from Toyota where he’s respected by so many of our guests.
“And so are my guests.
Sydney City Lexus Waterloo 824 Bourke Street WATERLOO NSW, 2017 02 8303 1900 Sydney City Lexus Glebe 36-38 Parramatta Rd, GLEBE NSW 2037 02 9565 6363 www.sydneycitylexus.com.ausales@sydneycitylexus.com.au GET IN TOUCH
