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Lexus LFA is awesome - just not online
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There has been a ton of hoopla surrounding the launch of the new nearly $400,000 Lexus LFA over the past couple of weeks. Understandable since it’s not every day a luxury manufacturer crosses over into the world of exotic sports cars.
While we could debate endlessly about whether or not a product made by Toyota is capable of commanding such a price (much less about where this fits within the Lexus brand strategy), it’s likely we can all agree that this vehicle is quite impressive both in appearance and performance. One automotive journalist was actually quoted as saying that it was the best car he had ever driven, combining blistering performance, sexy lines and uncompromising attention to detail.
So why, then, does the vehicle’s digital presence leave me feeling so uninspired? I guess I just expected this design and engineering showcase to translate directly to an online effort that makes me feel connected with the vehicle—Maybe even one that left me a little bit in love.
What I got instead was a cumbersome Flash site with some decent photography, a modest amount of engaging content and an interactive configurator that lets you customize your own LFA (as if!). Nothing about this site really parallels the magnitude of this vehicle. In fact, from a user experience standpoint, the site leaves a lot to be desired. It’s all Flash, and it loads excruciatingly slow at times—Enough to make it nearly unusable in some sections.
The element that was particularly puzzling to me was the LFA configurator. Aside from being pretty basic in terms of functionality, not very original, and overall fairly pointless, I felt that the configurator may convey the wrong message about the product’s brand. I guess what I’m saying is that if you’re creating a vehicle that will compete with the likes of Ferrari, Lamborghini and Aston Martin, why would you slap a feature on your site that gives it that “Fast and Furious” feel? It just doesn’t seem to work.
Your thoughts on the site?
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