Lexus Production Begins

LEXUS PRODUCTION BEGINS

May. 15, 1989 – Toyota City―TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION’S new line of luxury cars, the Lexus, today moved one step closer to introduction as the first of the company’s LS 400 luxury sedans rolled off the assembly line at the Tahara Plant near Nagoya en route to the U.S.

Six years in development, the LS 400 is the most luxurious and technologically advanced automobile Toyota has ever produced, and it is the first designed to compete directly with such European names as BMW and Mercedes Benz.

To ensure that each car offers the utmost in terms of total quality and performance, all new LS 400s will undergo exhaustive testing at speeds of up to 100mph on a factory track in Japan and receive another thorough inspection and test drive in the U.S. prior to dealer delivery.

The Lexus will be launched throughout the U.S. on September 1, 1989 with approximately 65 dealers. By the end of the year, 100 dealers in all are slated to be in operation. The first shipment of Lexus vehicles is scheduled for late June, and they will begin to arrive in U.S. showrooms in August as dealership facilities reach completion. All dealers will offer both the LS 400, a luxury four-door sedan with a 250-hp 4-liter V8 engine, and the ES 250, a four-door executive sedan powered by a 2.5-liter V6 engine. Sales for 1989 are targeted at 16,000 units.

 

TOYOTA OFFERS PREVIEW OF NEW LEXUS LINEUP

Dec. 09, 1988 – Toyota City―Toyota Motor Sales, U.S.A., Inc., TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION’S U.S. sales subsidiary, today gave members of the U.S. press a look at the company’s new luxury car line, Lexus. Unveiled this morning at the Art Center College of Design in Pasadena, California were the LS 400, a four-door luxury sedan mounting a powerful 4-liter, 32-valve V-8, and the ES 250, a sporty four-door executive sedan powered by a 2.5-liter, 24-valve V6.

The two models, both scheduled for launching in September 1989, represent Toyota’s first step into the fast growing U.S. luxury car market. Toyota announced its new luxury division in August 1987.

Lexus will provide American consumers with three all new models, including the LS 400 and the ES 250 shown today. Plans call for a sports coupe to be added to the lineup in 1991.

Initial marketing of the new line will be carried out by some 100 carefully selected Lexus dealers in the top 50 U.S. luxury car markets. Many of the Lexus buyers are expected to be current Toyota owners looking to move upscale, with the new luxury line also competing against some of the top European makes sold in the U.S. Sales for the first full year are targeted at 75,000 units. With America’s “baby boomers” entering their peak income earning years, the U.S. luxury car market is projected to continue to expand in the future.

The LS 400 and the ES 250 will make their public debut in January at the North American International Auto Show in Detroit and the Greater Los Angeles Auto Show in Los Angeles.

 

TOYOTA TO ENTER U.S. LUXURY CAR MARKET

Aug. 25, 1987 – Toyota Motor Sales U.S.A. Inc., the sales arm of TOYOTA MOTOR CORPORATION in the U.S., announced today (August 24 in North America) that it will introduce a new series of luxury cars to be marketed through a separate new sales network.

As the market for luxury cars has grown sharply in the last few years, so has the demand for higher performance. Bringing the full potential of its engineering and development powers into play, Toyota will offer a line of high-quality cars with superior performance and technology to satisfy these customer needs.

The new line will be called Lexus―denoting high technology, luxury and performance―and will include two new Toyota-built models. Both will provide high performance and luxurious appointments.

A separate sales network of Lexus dealers will be established to handle the new series. Initially, the number of outlets is planned at less than 100. The sales target for the two new models in the Lexus series will be 30,000 units for the first year, with sales set to begin in 1989.