(first posted 1/15/2016) Is it cheating to include this car in Toyota week? After all, the Toyota Lexcen was built in the same Elizabeth, South Australia factory as the Holden Commodore on which it was based. The only differences were cosmetic, although the Lexcen kept things simple: there were no manual transmissions, V8 engines or sporty trim levels. Why on earth did this bizarre rebadging experiment exist, and why was it sold for 9 long years?
The answer to the second question is one that remains elusive. Despite being almost identical to a car that was regularly Australia’s best seller and despite being sold by a brand that became #1 in Australia many years ago, the Lexcen sold poorly. And yet, Toyota kept it around.
1988-91 VN Commodore
The Lexcen was a product of the United Australian Automobile Industries joint venture between Toyota and General Motors-Holden. This joint venture also produced Holden-badged Toyota products, the Corolla-based Nova and Camry-based Apollo. Despite Holden’s extensive dealership network, the Camry and Corolla outsold the badge engineered Holdens by around 4-to-1.
This badge engineering wasn’t exclusive to the UAAI cars, as other local manufacturers like Ford and Nissan got involved too. They had been motivated by the “Button car plan”, an Australian federal initiative to consolidate locally-manufactured cars under fewer platforms, reduce tariffs on imported cars, and generally encourage competition and help improve Australian-built vehicles.
With its so-so build quality and pushrod Buick 3.8 V6, the 1988 VN Commodore was markedly different from any Toyota. The closest thing Toyota had was the rear-wheel-drive Cressida, but it featured a smoother 3.0 double overhead cam V6 and was priced much higher. Certainly, the “big Aussie six” was a popular format and the Commodore and Ford Falcon were consistently Australia’s best-selling cars. Perhaps Toyota wanted to get a piece of the pie considering its Camry was rather diminutive in size next to the Commodore and Falcon.
Named after the designer of the Australia II yacht that won the America’s Cup, Ben Lexcen, the Toyota Lexcen was priced almost identically to the Commodore. The name was a confusing and misguided choice considering Toyota was launching its Lexus division around the same time. The Lexcen sedan and wagon came in base, GL and GLX trim; these designations would later make way for CSi, VXi and flagship Newport sedan trims.
Toyota’s advertising proclaimed the Lexcen was for a different kind of family, despite the fact that the only real differences from the Commodore were the grille and headlights.
T2 Lexcen (above), VP Commodore (below)
The “wide-body” Camry that arrived in 1992 pit the Camry much more closely against the also new and larger Mitsubishi Magna (Diamante) and the Commodore and Falcon. With a bigger and more powerful 3.0 V6 available, sold as the Vienta to create psychological distance from the four-cylinder only Camry, the Lexcen was more redundant than ever. Despite this, Toyota persisted and even afforded the T2 series some further cosmetic differences from the VP Commodore on which it was based.
The T3 and T4 series Lexcens (VR and VS Commodore-based, respectively) were also visually differentiated with unique front fasciae. Despite this, the cosmetic differentiation was barely noticeable at a glance.
By the time of the T3/T4 Lexcen, the cheapest V6 Vienta was priced a cool $3k above the rebadged Holden.
The Falcon and Commodore had been duking it out during the 1990s for the top sales spot, but the questionable styling of the 1998 AU Falcon and the all-round competence and attractiveness of the 1997 VT Commodore tipped the scales very much in Holden’s favor once again. One wonders if Toyota was ever in line to get a Lexcen version of the hot-selling VT. Instead, with the UAAI experiment over, Toyota developed its own “big Aussie six” for 2000: a rehashed ’94 Avalon that flopped badly.
It was plain as day, even to non-enthusiasts, that the Lexcen was a rebadged Commodore. Were buyers loyal to their Toyota dealerships but needed something that towed more than a Camry? Were there better deals to be had on the slow-selling model? Former or current Lexcen owners, are you out there? Inquiring minds want to know why you didn’t just buy your car at a Holden dealership.
Related Reading:
Curbside Classic: 1988-91 Holden VN Commodore
That ad family looks inspired by Monty Python’s “Spot the Looney.”
Wow, take one somewhat anonymous looking sedan…..and somehow make it MORE anonymous looking.
And that name, even though it’s named after a real person, if anything ever sounded “made-up”/fake it’s Lexcen.
The T3-T4 looks vaguely like a Chevy Beretta with Impala overtones.
In the U.S. a GM product “cloned” from a Toyota did okay, saleswise. But a Toyota “cloned” from a GM product sounds dubious.
Sounds like someone never heard of the Toyota Cavalier.
As an American I take offence at the thought of the Chevy Cavalier representing the ultimate in luxury and driving pleasure….
But what if…it was!
In an alternate reality, the Wartime austerity and rationing stayed on after the War ended in 1951 with the final pacification of Japan. The billion dollar failure of the Manhattan Project and the costs to the USA in ships, planes and men on Operation Olympic’s D-Day and the years after forced the USA back into the Depression. The USA embraced the compact car as a standard family vehicle simply because it was what they could barely afford. The Kaiser and Willys were seen as right-sized, while postwar vehicles like Packard and Cadillac came to be viewed as gauche and only for for celebrities and extremely well-off Americans. Studebaker’s Lark continues to be produced, with a emphasis on quality control and competent engineering updates, much like it’s chief competitor, Volkswagen. Incidentally, the Beetle is still being made as well, as well as the Type 2 and Type 3. The Type 2 is commonly used as a courtesy vehicle by airports and hotels. A Beetle can be driven for an entire driving lifetime if so desired, and this happens often because of the cost of buying it.
Packard, Imperial and Edsel are respected brands, but with a dealer cost about the same as a Rolls, they are aspirational cars only for the favored few and are rarely seen in places other than Hollywood and Long Island. For example, Curbside Classics has yet to post an entry on the 1970 Edsel Thunderbird, with it’s extravagant oversized 260 V-8 and C-10 semi-manual automatic.
The Cavalier, Focus, Dart and Rambler, the Lark’s bigger brother, are the biggest cars normally seen on the roads today. The Cavalier was created by using the body and engine from the long gone Cadillac Cinnamon after Cadillac went under and is the car usually most favored by Road & Driver in their annual 5 best issue for their luxurious interior.
I love that commercial, it is hilarious! The tagline – “Oh, what a different feeling, Toyota!” is a great riff on the regular line. Not sure if t would have helped to sell the car but certainly catchy.
I think it’s still more appealing than the Toyota Cavalier sold in Japan though but perhaps that’s due to greater familiarity with the Cavalier than the Commodore.
The one way that it may be of appeal is if for whatever reason you prefer to deal with a Toyota dealer or service department rather than a Holden one, but that’s about it…
FWIU the GM-branded NUMMI cars sold over the years because of better deals and GMAC financing than you could get on the equivalent Toyota.
Thanks to the American obsession with financing everything, the latest looming subprime bubble is now auto loans.
http://www.thecarconnection.com/news/1099642_the-subprime-lending-bubble-is-totally-bursting-maybe
People will let practically everything go before they stop making their car payments. No car, no way to get to work. You can live in your car but you can’t drive your house to work. Even if they don’t, repo’ing ad reselling a car is quite a bit easier than foreclosing on a house.
Subprime is very profitable for cars and low risk, the risk is already built in to the interest rates and pays for itself quickly.
A coworker explained carefully that the Lexcen was the result of the Japanese stealing the plans of the Commodore and copying them. ” But you can tell it’s a fake because it is much smaller….”
It’s safe to say he wasn’t the brightest match in the box.
That’s hilarious !
+1 hehehe
The ex-wife had one of the VN Lexcens. What a dreadful car! A/C kept dying, main fuses, ignition module, door locks, just a poorly built heap and a reminder of the bad old days of Aussie cars.
I don’t know whether to be impressed with the car or not. It’s attractive, and I’m hoping still built to Australian road driving conditions. But whether to call it a Holden or a Toyota, that is the question. It looks more like a Holden Commodore than a Toyota.
Very Vauxhall Senator looking. I love this site showing cars I’ve never heard of before
A family friend, who knew everything about everything, bought a VP Lexcen over the Commodore because he was convinced that all Toyotas were made in Japan. Sure enough it slowly started to fall apart but fortunately for him it was stolen and never recovered.
Maybe the warranties were different, like with the Geo brand in the US? Just a theory…
The OZ warranty wars began after these cars faded away led by Hyundai ever increasing warranties were offered on Australian cars, it led to extended service intervals that cost consumers a small fortune on just out of warranty used AU Falcons when they found the transmission 100k service interval if neglected cost them a rebuild at 110k kms, Hyundai didnt care their cars mostly lasted the 3 year warranty unscathed if the owners took advantage of the free servicing offered if they didnt it voided anyway and Holden and Falcon drivers just took a punt on local build quality as always.
It looks very similar to my friends Opel omega He had the car when we were stationed in Germany about 10 years ago. Great car fun to drive and definitely better looking front end than that Toyota
That would be the 1986-1994 Opel Omega A.
You mean the 1987 Opel Senator B?
I had no idea these continued into VR and VS series.
Govt regulation kept the project alive, The Toyota cloned Holdens were no different though argueably better cars the Apollo built of the 4 banger Camry was a good cheap deal new and used these clones were cheap as chips, John Laws the radio spieler was I think largely responsible for some people thinking Ben Lexcen designed that Toyota he definitely gave that impression during his talkback advertising rants that were syndicated nation wide, Gotta laugh though,
One sensible improvement Toyota made was to fit proper amber front indicators, rather than the feeble clear-lens Holden units that are invisible in bright sunlight.
I always wondered if these would have sold better with proper Toyota engines. Lexus V8 in a Lexcen, anyone?
I remember looking at a lone Lexcen sitting in a Toyota showroom next to a bunch of regular Toyotas and being transfixed by the difference in build quality.
The Lexcen was clearly the cuckoo in the nest. Standing prouder but rougher than the rest of the clan. The contrast between the appalling build quality of the Holden sourced interloper and the imported cars was both stark and cringeworthy.
I had a lexcen identical to the green T3 in the pictures. I chose it purely because it was cheaper than an identical coloured Commodore the dealer had on the same lot ( both cars were about 17 years old at this time). The differences extended further than just the grille – the front fenders/wings/guards were also restyled to accommodate the indicators on the lexcen that extended further back. Not a great car but not neccessarily a bad one. The VR and VS commodores do seem to have a very high survivor rate.
What I’ve never understood was why Toyota choose the Holden Commodore to rebadge a Toyota? Not being from Australia, I don’t quite understand it. But from what I’ve read so far, by this time, Holden build quality has been deteriorating. I would think that rebadging the car as a Toyota would not do Toyota any favours, but would bring Toyota down a notch in quality.
I would guess Holden was chosen by Toyota because GM and Toyota already (?) had a “similar” tie-up….or would have a similar tie-up in the U.S.
That, and Ford U.S. had tie-ups, or again would soon have tie-ups with Nissan in the U.S. and Australia.
I reckon in a way that makes sense.
Apart from being newer, the VR & VS Commdores were a much better car. The VN was pretty flimsy; the VR Commodore was over 60kg heavier when the main non-bodyshell changes were a new front suspension and driver’s airbag, along with a new upper section of the dashboard, so you can see there must have been a decent amount of extra metal incorporated. The VN Commodore weighed 1310kg/2980lb which is pretty light for a 4.85m/191″ long car.
The Holden Commodore has been an Opel derivative since the very first generation, so the resemblance is no coincidence. Only exception, interestingly enough, is this latest generation, a completely clean-sheet design, said to be the last.
I always wondered, though, why GM was never able to expand the Commodore’s market to keep the line going.
They gave it a red-hot go! In the early 2000’s the Commodore was sold on every continent except Antarctica. Both the 1996 VT and 2006 VE/Zeta generations were under serious consideration for production in the USA, the closest it got was the Zeta-based Camaro. The decline of the sedan market and a few percentage disadvantage for fuel consumption compared to a fwd driveline mean that we won’t see an Alpha-platform based replacement.
Its like the Honda Odyssey/Isuzu Rodeo situation. They swapped a rebadged Camry for this car during those years.
The Button plan still kind of confuses me. I know the US Government imposed some very specific restrictions on GM as conditions of the bailout a few years back, but it seems meddlesome that the government decided “what we need to do is tell the carmakers to consolidate platforms and force tie-ups with Japanese manufacturers.” Just odd.
I know I’m replying to an old comment here, but here’s a bit of background.
Australian used to be a prosperous country once. Because we are so far geographically removed from anywhere else, we developed a ‘do-it-yourself’ mentality. Successive governments encouraged this by putting taxes on imported goods, all sorts of goods. Good for local industry and great for giving your mate a job, but poor for consumer choice. Whether it was cars, clothes, shoes, books, toys, radios, toasters, or whatever, imported stuff attracted high taxes. So you bought local, which was often not well-made.
Car makers had long enjoyed this wall of protection; massive tariffs (possibly originally intended to support the local body-building industry back in the days of separate-chassis cars), import taxes, import licences that had to be purchased, quotas etc. Great protection, yes. But what often happened was that cars remained in local production long after they had been replaced elsewhere; our Toyota Corollas were often several years behind the rest of the world, and we skipped an entire generation of Mitsubishi Lancers. And yestertech reigned – Holden cut down their fifteen-year-old six to make a gutless pushrod four in 1978! If the best the rest of the world had to offer was either restricted in supply or priced way above its logical competition, what incentive was there to update? And assembly quality was often awful, have I mentioned that?
It gets political. We’d had the same party in power since pretty much the end of WW2, but they came across as a tired group, an old-folks party. In the early seventies the main opposition party came to power, under the slogan “It’s time!”. They had the finger on the pulse of us young folks, pulled us out of Vietnam, and were committed to making the imported goods we all wanted cheaper. Tariffs got slashed, all of a sudden quality imported things got affordable, and the economy boomed as we bought up big. But then unemployment started rising as local manufacturers closed up shop, unable to compete. Whoops! What was that about unintended consequences?
The Button plan was intended to address this. I’m no economist. I think it was intended as a half-way house between appeasing the carmakers (who were all multinationals by now anyway) and the consumers (who all knew the local stuff was poor quality). Odd things happened, like Nissan Pulsars powered by the GM Family Two engine, but it was usually straight badge engineering, which buyers treated with the contempt it deserved.
Does anybody know how many 1995 Toyota lexcen Newport where made can’t find any info
Ben Lexcen died in 1988, so I think that was the reason why the name was chosen.
Brings back unfortunate memories between my Dad and Uncle. I know for a fact from 1995 to around mid 1997, if you were a family who’s tax free threshold was under the current limit, their were incentives and subsidies for buying a Toyota Lexcen from memory, anything up to 25% sub, similar to first home owners grant in Australia at the moment. My dad used winge about this all the time (tax could have been better spent in other areas) back in the 90’s as my uncle owned one of these vehicles. Very popular in certain economic environments in Australia at the time, unfortunately.