If American car-manufacturer heads had been warned about a Japanese take-over in the mid 80's, they would have almost certainly laughed at the prospect. Humorous or not, the Japanese did conquer US, not through mecha led wars but rather through anime and cars. However, before the mild-assault began, there were a series of weird meetings held in secrecy in chairman chambers.
Such a meeting was held in 1983 between Toyota chairman Eiji Toyoda and his company executives. Toyoda had not invited his enforcers over for cookies and tea but to question them about the possibility of developing a luxury-car line that could successfully compete with American brands. The project was labeled as F1 -Flahship 1- and proved to be a most lucrative endeavor. The result was a vehicle that later became known as the Lexus LS 400 prior to its US premier.
Things were so good for Lexus that it has constantly grown since its inception. The brand has been introduced to the Japanese home-market in 2005 as well as it has in other regions of Asia and South America as well as Australia and Europe. By 2007, Lexus had spread in over 50 countries and it continues to grow. The company's "pursuit of perfection" is fronted by its current line-up, comprised of the IS, LS and RX series among others as well as the avant-garde LF-A concepts. |
