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Lexus History
There are no Lexus dealers in Japan. The name Lexus was created specifically during 1987 to give Toyota a second marketing channel in the United States. The Japanese company, despite a name for reliability, found it hard to make inroads to the cliquey luxury market, dominated by German, British and American names. The first car to wear the Lexus badge in the States was an upmarket version of the Camry V6. The latest Aristo and Majesta models were launched as Lexus LS 400 and GS 300 in 1998. Thanks to careful marketing, the cars� sky-high quality shone through and the strategy worked. It was quickly aped by Honda with �Acura� and Nissan with �Infinity�. In the States the Lexus image has now been diluted slightly by a re-badged version of the Land Cruiser. The Lexus name came to the UK in 1990, with a single model, the LS 400. Toyota�s designers aimed to emulate the very best of European automotive engineering. The 32-valve 4.0-litre V8 matched to a electronically-controlled four-speed automatic follows the BMW, Jaguar and Mercedes-Benz thinking that rear-wheel drive is still the best for smoothness. The LS 400 has been improved throughout its life, but the car retains essentially its original appearance. Body fit and finish is still probably among the best in the business and they have made a name for exceptional reliability and longevity. The smaller 3.0 in- ine six GS 300 was designed by Guigaro. As in the States, Lexus dealer are run as a separate operation from the Toyota side of the business. Lexus dealers are now undergoing a substantial �refranchising� exercise which will result in a complete rebuild of the network by late 2001. A new smaller model, the IS200 was launched 1999. Some aspects of its looks were a matter of taste but engineering was to the usual standard. With a 300% increase in sales in 1999 behind it and new LS430 and RX300 slated for launch in late 2000, this is an almost text-book example of how to make branding work.
Lexus GS300 Lexus IS300 Lexus LS460 Lexus RX300 Lexus SC300 Lexus SC400
