For newcomers to the automotive scene, the acceptance of Lexus as one of the leading lights among builders of luxury automobiles has become so complete that observers can be forgiven for thinking that Lexus has been present in this group for many decades.
Of course, that isn't true. To the considerable surprise of nearly everyone involved, Lexus grew into the player it is today from a seed cautiously planted in 1983, just 23 years ago. That's when officials at Toyota in Japan, from which the Lexus nameplate springs, decided that the time was right to launch their own line of luxury automobiles, taking on the giants who had always owned that territory—Mercedes-Benz, Jaguar, Cadillac and BMW. From the first LS 400 and ES 250 sedans launched in 1989, Lexus, had in many respects matched the established luxury players and their high levels of excellence stride for stride.
While the Lexus reputation for excellence became a matter of public record with repeated recognition from independent watchdogs such as J.D. Power and Associates, winning awards for the sake of the awards themselves was never the Lexus goal. The goal was then, as it remains today, to build the finest luxury sedans in the world, using the latest technologies, with the most environmentally advanced strategies. By many accounts that's just what Lexus did.
As with so many things, the Lexus story began with the vision of one man. That man was Toyota Chairman Eiji Toyoda, who in the early 1980s called together his most trusted corporate officers and advisors and told them that the company needed to create a luxury automobile that would equal, and then exceed, the world's best. Mr. Toyoda and other Toyota leaders recognized that the huge baby-boom generation would soon enter its peak earning years, creating a huge demand for top-quality cars. Toyota needed to be able to capitalize on that demand.
The decision to go forward with the plan to build a luxury car was made with the input of Yukiyasu Togo, president and chairman of Toyota Motor Sales (TMS), U.S.A., Inc., from 1983 to June 1992, who estimated that the project would cost $1 billion, even as he made sure that this special new car would have a distinctly American flavor.
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