Lexus, the 32-year-old luxury car division of Toyota Motor Corporation, is facing a supply shortage in India for its cars following unprecedented demand surge.

Its India subsidiary is talking to its head office to explore ways to improve output at its local assembly centre in Bengaluru, as well as get higher number of fully-built units allocated to the country.

Naveen Soni, President, Lexus India, said, “We are discussing with our head office to figure out way to increase production.” Presently, the ES300h is assembled at the Bengaluru factory from imported kits. India is one of the four locations in the world to have an assembly unit.

The fully imported NX 350h, which was launched on Wednesday, features a self-charging hybrid powertrain and had opened for bookings in January.

“We opened the pre-bookings in January and it has so far received a very overwhelming response. There is currently a waiting period of 6 months for this model and we are trying to bring it down,” Soni added.

Three variants

The NX 350h is available in three variants with prices starting at ₹64.9 lakh (ex-showroom, all-India). The car which will compete against the BMW X3, Mercedes-Benz GLC and the Volvo XC60, Land Rover Discovery Sport will be available in all of the four dealerships that Lexus has in India.

Three more dealerships are coming in Chandigarh, Chennai and Kochi besides brand centres in Gurgaon, Vijaywada and Kerala.

Unlike its competitors like Mercedes, BMW, Volvo and Jaguar, Lexus does not have a battery electric vehicle in its India portfolio yet. But the company is testing the waters to bring the UX EV to India. The car may be brought to India fully imported, which might push up its end price.