When the idea of
Lexus reached the United States in the late 80’s most people thought it was ridiculous. They assumed that a Japanese luxury car company with no experience wouldn’t stand a chance against the likes of Mercedes, Cadillac or BMW. Now that Lexus has been around for a while they not only compete with these brands, but many people believe that they have surpassed them in many cases.
A Stealthy Beginning
Lexus originated from a secret project that the executives of Toyota began working on. They gather together in 1983 to begin a project known as F1. Basically they were trying to see if they could create a luxury vehicle that would outdo the current luxury vehicles of the day from other manufacturers.
Why Lexus?
Lexus was ultimately created to expand the customer-base of Toyota. They wanted a piece of that premium market, where they could gain high-paying customers with a demand of a top-of-the-line vehicle.
The Massive Effort behind the LS 400
The Lexus LS 400 is still sold today in one form or another, but it was the original sedan that launched with the brand in 1989. The luxury model was the result of a massive amount of work and over $1 billion in resources. There were a total of 450 different prototypes created before they ended up with the model that they released with.
The team that took care of all this work was also quite massive for developing a single vehicle. There were 1,400 different engineers, 2,300 technicians, as well as 220 support workers who took care of all the assembling work. This team worked hard for six years before helping Toyota come up with their final vehicle for launch.
This would be the vehicle that showed everyone that a Japanese company could launch a luxury sedan in the United States and compete with the best names out there.
Hitting the States with Force
The Lexus 400 was launched in the United States along with a multi-million dollar advertising campaign making sure that everyone knew exactly why they needed to get the car. It received a relatively positive response, and it beat out both the mid-sized models for BMW and Mercedes-Benz. What impress people the most was the fact that the $55,000 BMW and $63,000 Benz were being outclassed by a vehicle selling for only $38,000. The LS 400 was viewed as an excellent value for the features and performance that it has. In their first year of operation alone they were able to sell 16,000 of the luxury cars to people across the United States which is exactly the figure they were shooting for.
Branching Out
Their first year of success gave them enough courage to start branching out into other markets besides the United States. In 1990 they began releasing a small number of vehicles in the UK, Australia, Canada, and Switzerland. They also launched a sports coupe, the SC 400, and released a second model of their original vehicle, the ES 300.
Lexus is a well-respected brand today, and they are known for releasing quality vehicles. There have been several occasions where they recalled groups of vehicles voluntarily to make sure they took care of customer complaints. In less than a decade Toyota was able to build up a brand new brand, and launch it to such levels of success that it ended in a lasting brand that people know and respect today, it is one of their best success stories.
When the idea of Lexus reached the United States in the late 80’s most people thought it was ridiculous. They assumed that a Japanese luxury car company with no experience wouldn’t stand a chance against the likes of Mercedes, Cadillac or BMW. Now that Lexus has been around for a while they not only compete with these brands, but many people believe that they have surpassed them in many cases.
A Stealthy Beginning
Lexus originated from a secret project that the executives of Toyota began working on. They gather together in 1983 to begin a project known as F1. Basically they were trying to see if they could create a luxury vehicle that would outdo the current luxury vehicles of the day from other manufacturers.
Why Lexus?
Lexus was ultimately created to expand the customer-base of Toyota. They wanted a piece of that premium market, where they could gain high-paying customers with a demand of a top-of-the-line vehicle.
The Massive Effort behind the LS 400
The Lexus LS 400 is still sold today in one form or another, but it was the original sedan that launched with the brand in 1989. The luxury model was the result of a massive amount of work and over $1 billion in resources. There were a total of 450 different prototypes created before they ended up with the model that they released with.
The team that took care of all this work was also quite massive for developing a single vehicle. There were 1,400 different engineers, 2,300 technicians, as well as 220 support workers who took care of all the assembling work. This team worked hard for six years before helping Toyota come up with their final vehicle for launch.