Lexus has its sights on the suburbs

If you have not owned a luxury car before, your first should be a Lexus.

That's the view of the brand's Australian chief, Sean Hanley, who is behind a push into capital-city suburbs in pursuit of new customers.

"We refer to it as the step-up market, those people that are now entering luxury [vehicles]," Hanley says.

"In Western Sydney for example, or Springwood in Brisbane, there is a whole luxury market sitting in these areas where we think our brand is perfectly suited to look at.

"We think that our strategies and our product offerings are absolutely suited to that step-up market."

Hanley says luxury cars are more affordable than ever, and that a strong economy combined with a raft of new products from premium brands has seen luxury car sales grow at a greater rate than conventional models.

"There are more and more people that are moving into luxury," he says.

"There's no boundaries for luxury, we kind of call that the democratisation of luxury.

"The reason we're expanding our dealer network is because there's a clear acknowledgement that we must tap into and service that new luxury buyer."

Hanley has not yet announced how many new dealerships the brand will have, or exactly where the new ones will be placed.

The expansion comes as Lexus introduces a rival to the Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz compact SUVs in its new NX lineup.

The Japanese brand has prepared an advertising offensive to promote the new machine that subtly takes aim at its established German rivals.

In the locally-produced commercial, a Lexus driver throws three formally-dressed musicians out of his NX, leaving them by the side of the road.

Hanley suggests the ad is a metaphor for "new luxury", and could encourage people to seriously consider Toyota's luxury brand.