Lexus is a luxury brand of Toyota, whose first
product, the Lexus LS, was launched in 1989. The project began in 1983 when the
then Toyota chairman challenged his team to build “the world’s best carâ€. At the time, Toyota was represented in the premium
segment by the Toyota Supra, Mark 2, and the Crown.
Lexus is Japan’s biggest seller of luxury brands.
The project was mainly for export, and targeted especially the American market.
This was in response to Nissan’s Infiniti, Honda’s Acura (Legend), and Mazda’s
929. Toyota felt that to enter the American luxury market they needed to create
a separate brand. It became only available in Japan in 2005, when Lexus was
incorporated independently. However, as the Toyota brand grew in stature, a
number of the Lexus brands are now also sold as Toyota, creating some
confusion.
In Zimbabwe Lexus is available from Toyota as the
twin of the Land Cruiser Series 200, and in the grey market mostly as the twin
of the Toyota Altezza. The LS saloons are also available in the grey market.
The first luxury saloon launched was the LS400, with
a 4L V8 petrol engine, and rear wheel drive in 1989. It was positioned to
compete with the Mercedes 420SEL and the BMW 735i, among others, and obviously
gave better value for money against these established giants. It took a big
chunk of the market, especially in the American market, where previous Japanese
vehicles had been conservative and economical.
Among other brands that followed were the GS300
sports sedan (related to the Toyota Aristo), the top selling ES300, the RX300
SUV (also sold as the Toyota Harrier), and the top of the range full size
luxury SUV Lexus LX450 (related to the Landcruiser Series 100 and 200).
Lexus came back to the home market of Japan in 2005,
becoming the first Japanese luxury car in Japan. The brand replaced Toyota
branded Lexus models such as Altezza, Celsior, Aristo, Harrier, among others.
Lexus leads in innovative luxury technologies
centred around aerodynamics, ride quality, and interior feel, especially sound
and light ambience.