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Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corporation. First introduced in the United States, where Lexus has become the highest-selling make of luxury car, today Lexus brand name vehicles are available throughout the world. In 2005, the Lexus marque launched in Japan, marking the continued global expansion of the luxury division.

Lexus originated from a clandestine flagship sedan project that began in 1983. This effort developed into the original Lexus LS, which was the first vehicle to wear the Lexus marque upon its launch in 1989. In subsequent years, Lexus added sedan, coupe, and SUV models. Hybrid drivetrains arrived in 2005, and the F marque performance division debuted in 2007. From the start of production, Lexus vehicles have been consistently produced in Japan, with manufacturing centered in the Chūbu and Kyūshū regions. Assembly of the first Lexus built outside the country, the Ontario, Canada-produced RX, began in 2003.

Since 1989, Lexus has developed a reputation for vehicle reliability and customer service, as measured by independent surveys. In 2008, consumer ratings firm J.D. Power and Associates named Lexus the most reliable brand in the U.S. for the fourteenth year, based on its Vehicle Dependability Survey, a measure of over 53,000 vehicle owners and problems experienced in the first three years of vehicle ownership. Through 2008, Consumer Reports has also named Lexus among the top five most reliable brands in its Annual Car Reliability Surveys of over one million vehicles across the U.S. The Lexus slogan is The Pursuit of Perfection.

History

Brand development

In 1986, Toyota’s longtime advertising agency Saatchi & Saatchi formed a specialized unit, Team One, to handle marketing for the new luxury brand. Image consulting firm Lippincott & Margulies was hired to develop a list of 219 prospective names; Vectre, Verone, Chaparel, Calibre, and Alexis were chosen as top candidates. While Alexis quickly became the front runner (also associated with the Alexis Carrington character on the popular 1980s primetime drama Dynasty) and later morphed to Lexus, the name has been attributed to the combination of the words "luxury" and "elegance," and another theory claims it is an acronym for "luxury exports to the U.S." According to Team One interviews, the name has no specific meaning and simply denotes a luxurious and technological image.

Just prior to the release of the first vehicles, database service LexisNexis obtained a temporary injunction forbidding the name Lexus from being used as they stated it might cause confusion. Upon reflection, the court lifted the injunction, deciding that there was little likelihood of confusion between the two products.

The original Lexus slogan, developed after Team One representatives visited Lexus designers in Japan and noted their obsessive attention to detail, became "The Relentless Pursuit of Perfection."

The Lexus logo was developed by Molly Designs and Hunter Communications. The final design for the Lexus logo featured a stylized “L” within an oval, and according to Toyota, was rendered using a precise mathematical formula.[22] The first teaser ads featuring the Lexus name and logo, designed by Team One, appeared at the Chicago, Los Angeles, and New York auto shows in 1988.

Launch

In 1989, after an extended development process involving 60 designers, 24 engineering teams, 1,400 engineers, 2,300 technicians, 220 support workers, around 450 prototypes, and over $1-billion in costs, the F1 project was completed. The resulting flagship, the Lexus LS 400, had a unique design that shared no major elements with previous Toyota vehicles, with a new 4.0 L V8 gasoline engine and rear-wheel drive. Testing locations for the LS 400 included the German autobahn.

The LS 400 debuted in January 1989 at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit. The following September, Lexus vehicles officially went on sale at a network of 81 new Lexus dealerships across the U.S. The LS 400 was sold along with a smaller sibling, the Toyota Camry-based ES 250. The launch of Lexus was heralded by a multimillion dollar advertising campaign in both television and print media. Lexus subsequently began exports to the United Kingdom, Switzerland, Canada, and Australia, starting in 1990.

The LS 400 was widely praised for its quietness, well-appointed and ergonomic interior, engine performance, build quality, aerodynamics, fuel economy, and value, though it was criticized by some automobile columnists for derivative styling and a suspension regarded as too compromising of handling for ride comfort. The LS 400 debuted at $38,000 in the U.S. (in some markets, it was priced against midsize six-cylinder Mercedes-Benz and BMW models) and was rated by Car and Driver magazine as better than both the $63,000 Mercedes-Benz 420 SEL and the $55,000 BMW 735i in terms of ride, handling, and performance. It was generally regarded as a major shock to the European marques; BMW's and Mercedes-Benz's U.S. sales figures dropped 29% and 19%, respectively, with then-BMW chairman Eberhard von Kuenheim accusing Lexus of dumping in that market. The LS 400 also won several major motoring awards when released.

In 1990, during its first full year of sales, Lexus sold 63,594 LS 400 and ES 250 sedans in the U.S., the vast majority being the LS model. By 1991, sales had increased to 71,206 cars in the U.S. market, making Lexus the country's top-selling luxury import. That same year, Lexus earned first place in J.D. Power’s studies on initial vehicle quality, customer satisfaction, and sales satisfaction.

Growth and expansion

Lexus introduced two new models in June and September 1991, the SC 400 coupe and ES 300 sedan. The SC 400 (designed in tandem with the Japanese-market Toyota Soarer) shared the LS 400’s V8 engine and rear-wheel drive design, while the ES 300 replaced the ES 250 and became Lexus’ best-selling sedan. The GS series came to America in 1993, based on the Toyota Aristo, which had sold for two years prior in Japan. In 1994, Lexus introduced the second-generation LS 400, a complete redesign of the flagship model.

In 1996, Lexus added its first luxury sport utility vehicle, the LX 450. Two years later, Lexus debuted the first luxury crossover SUV, the RX 300; the second generation of the GS 300/GS 400 sedans; and a new entry-level sedan, the IS 300. The RX quickly became Lexus' best-selling model, displacing the ES, its previous best-seller. In 1999, Lexus recorded its one-millionth vehicle sold in the U.S. market, and was ranked the top-selling luxury automobile make in the United States overall. In 2001, Lexus introduced its first convertible, the SC 430, and the third-generation LS 430.

In 2005, Lexus expanded its lineup with the debut of the world’s first hybrid luxury SUV, the RX 400h. The vehicle's Lexus Hybrid Drive system combined gasoline and electric motors for increased power, improved fuel efficiency, and lower emissions relative to traditional gas-powered equivalents. In 2006, Lexus unveiled the GS 450h, a performance hybrid sedan with a V6 gas/electric power train and rear-wheel drive.

In 2006, Lexus premiered the fourth-generation flagship LS Series—comprising both standard- and long-wheelbase gasoline (LS 460 and LS 460 L) and hybrid versions (LS 600h and LS 600h L)—and adding its automated parallel/reverse parking feature. In 2007, the LS 600h L went on sale as the most expensive luxury vehicle ever produced in Japan, with a sticker price of approximately $125,000.

In January 2007, Lexus announced a new F marque performance division, which would produce racing-inspired versions of its luxury performance vehicles. The first of this line, the Lexus IS F, made its debut at the 2007 North American International Auto Show, accompanied by an exotic supercar concept, the LF-A.

By 2006, Lexus sold approximately 475,000 vehicles worldwide and entered Interbrand's list of the Top 100 Global Brands for the first time, with an estimated brand value of approximately $3 billion annually. In 2007, Lexus' annual U.S. sales had risen to 329,177 vehicles. In 2008, amidst the global financial crisis, sales dropped 21% in the U.S., with an annual total of 260,087. In terms of volume, Lexus was the number-one-selling luxury marque in the largest automotive market for the past eight years consecutively and the fourth-largest luxury car brand in the world by volume.

Source: cars-directory.net;