As chief engineer Suguya Fukusato told me in Tokyo late last year: "The marketing side, not the development side, looked at the BMW 3-Series, Cadillac CTS, Acura TL, Audi A4 and Mercedes C-Class. But my personal benchmark [for developing the car] was in my own feeling of what was right for the car. In that sense, I decided for myself what to do."
Of course Fukusato's team looked closely at the competition and their stretch goal for performance was the BMW 330i M edition and the Mercedes-Benz AMG C32. But they had their own ideas about what they should do with their new sedan.
And those ideas were shaped in no small measure by Fukusato, who is a rally driver in his native Japan and has had two Porsche 911 coupes in his stable -- a 1980 911SC and a 1989 911 Turbo.
Lexus officials say their new 2006 IS will equal or exceed the BMW 3-Series in assembly quality, dependability and retained value. No one else with any sense thinks otherwise.
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