Lexus - The Challenge to Create the Finest Automobile - has anyone read it?
01-23-04, 09:26 PM
#1
Lexus Test Driver
Thread Starter
Lexus - The Challenge to Create the Finest Automobile - has anyone read it?
Has anyone read this book?
The contents seem pretty interesting:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1901...09#reader-link
The contents seem pretty interesting:
http://www.amazon.com/gp/reader/1901...09#reader-link
01-23-04, 10:31 PM
#3
Racer
Ordering mine tomorrow. ALright
01-25-04, 08:13 AM
#6
LEXUS HISTORY
A Japanese gamble that defied the skeptics
Dubai | By Jehanbaz Ali Khan | 29/06/2001
Lexus has put paid to conventional wisdom that a Japanese carmaker cannot compete against international luxury brands. In 1999 alone, it sold its one-millionth car in the U.S., and also became the No 1 imported luxury car brand in that country. The Lexus RX 300, launched in 1998, was even named Sport/Utility Car of the Year by "Motor Trend" magazine. So what accounts for its huge popularity?
The year is 1983. The place is a secret location in the heart of the Japanese countryside. The occasion: a top-secret meeting of the top management of the Toyota Motor Co. Chairing the meeting is Eiji Toyoda, chairman of Toyota and a direct descendant of the founder.
The minutes of the meeting are circulated in sealed envelopes and delivered only to those attending the meeting. Those minutes recorded the unanimous agreement to adopt the proposal of the chairman that the time was right for "Toyota to create a luxury car to challenge the world's best".
A momentous decision and one that would eventually stun the automotive world with the efficiency and impact the implementation of the plan would create. Up to then, the traditional players in the luxury segment of the large car market had been the two German carmakers, Daimler Benz and BMW.
Just two years after that highly secret meeting, a study team from Japan visited the U.S. to conduct focus groups among the motoring public, especially those with higher disposable incomes. At the same time, a design team from Toyota in Japan landed in California to liaise with colleagues from the American Toyota Co to develop new luxury model concepts.
By July 1985, the first of several LS400 luxury sedan prototypes were hand-built with a specification strongly influenced by the feedback gained during the focus groups. Extensive road testing followed for over 18 months with a variety of prototype models until, in May 1987, the top management team of Toyota signed off its approval of the final design of the LS400.
Then it was 'Green for Go!' with the start of the planning and scheduling for a full-scale production programme for the secret new car. Although there were many rumours circulating in the North American market, Toyota was able to keep the design concept reasonably well under wraps. Prototypes were tested in all weather conditions of the globe - from the Arctic wastes in the north of Norway and Canada to the arid desert of the Arabian Peninsula. These prototypes were heavily disguised and wore no form of identification badges so the secret was relatively safe from prying eyes.
January 1998 saw the first public appearance of Lexus - a totally new brand - as the LS400 and the ES250 were unveiled at motor shows in Detroit and Los Angeles. Later that year, in September, the models went on sale to the American public in a brand new network of Lexus showrooms nationwide. The rest is history. In those early days, many industry executives scoffed at the idea of a Japanese manufacturer being able to compete with the established luxury brands from Germany and doubts were cast on the viability of the exercise.
Conventional wisdom could not imagine a completely unknown Japanese brand, albeit from one the world's automotive giants and the most successful in Japan, could possibly succeed. Competitors felt no real threat to their volumes and market shares at the time. How wrong they were! Just ten years later, in 1999, the Lexus brand had sold its one-millionth vehicle in the United States of America, alone.
Lexus had also become the No 1 imported luxury car brand in the U.S., comfortably out-selling its two German rivals, Daimler-Benz and BMW. So much for the comments of the doubting Thomases at the launch of the brand. Lexus has also been the winner of countless annual Car of the Year awards, around the globe, and has taken first place in the J.D. Powers and Associates Vehicle Dependability index for six straight years from 1995 to 2000.
So the Lexus story is one of a brand that grows from strength to strength. From the secret meeting in 1983 to brand leadership in the imported luxury car market segment in the U.S. is a lesson for students of automobile marketing - how to do it right!
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/peo...rticleID=20914
Toyota contracted a vendor in northern California to create a name for the new luxury vehicle line. The name "Lexus" was created by combining two words that they felt best depicted the vehicle, "luxury" and "elegance."
A Japanese gamble that defied the skeptics
Dubai | By Jehanbaz Ali Khan | 29/06/2001
Lexus has put paid to conventional wisdom that a Japanese carmaker cannot compete against international luxury brands. In 1999 alone, it sold its one-millionth car in the U.S., and also became the No 1 imported luxury car brand in that country. The Lexus RX 300, launched in 1998, was even named Sport/Utility Car of the Year by "Motor Trend" magazine. So what accounts for its huge popularity?
The year is 1983. The place is a secret location in the heart of the Japanese countryside. The occasion: a top-secret meeting of the top management of the Toyota Motor Co. Chairing the meeting is Eiji Toyoda, chairman of Toyota and a direct descendant of the founder.
The minutes of the meeting are circulated in sealed envelopes and delivered only to those attending the meeting. Those minutes recorded the unanimous agreement to adopt the proposal of the chairman that the time was right for "Toyota to create a luxury car to challenge the world's best".
A momentous decision and one that would eventually stun the automotive world with the efficiency and impact the implementation of the plan would create. Up to then, the traditional players in the luxury segment of the large car market had been the two German carmakers, Daimler Benz and BMW.
Just two years after that highly secret meeting, a study team from Japan visited the U.S. to conduct focus groups among the motoring public, especially those with higher disposable incomes. At the same time, a design team from Toyota in Japan landed in California to liaise with colleagues from the American Toyota Co to develop new luxury model concepts.
By July 1985, the first of several LS400 luxury sedan prototypes were hand-built with a specification strongly influenced by the feedback gained during the focus groups. Extensive road testing followed for over 18 months with a variety of prototype models until, in May 1987, the top management team of Toyota signed off its approval of the final design of the LS400.
Then it was 'Green for Go!' with the start of the planning and scheduling for a full-scale production programme for the secret new car. Although there were many rumours circulating in the North American market, Toyota was able to keep the design concept reasonably well under wraps. Prototypes were tested in all weather conditions of the globe - from the Arctic wastes in the north of Norway and Canada to the arid desert of the Arabian Peninsula. These prototypes were heavily disguised and wore no form of identification badges so the secret was relatively safe from prying eyes.
January 1998 saw the first public appearance of Lexus - a totally new brand - as the LS400 and the ES250 were unveiled at motor shows in Detroit and Los Angeles. Later that year, in September, the models went on sale to the American public in a brand new network of Lexus showrooms nationwide. The rest is history. In those early days, many industry executives scoffed at the idea of a Japanese manufacturer being able to compete with the established luxury brands from Germany and doubts were cast on the viability of the exercise.
Conventional wisdom could not imagine a completely unknown Japanese brand, albeit from one the world's automotive giants and the most successful in Japan, could possibly succeed. Competitors felt no real threat to their volumes and market shares at the time. How wrong they were! Just ten years later, in 1999, the Lexus brand had sold its one-millionth vehicle in the United States of America, alone.
Lexus had also become the No 1 imported luxury car brand in the U.S., comfortably out-selling its two German rivals, Daimler-Benz and BMW. So much for the comments of the doubting Thomases at the launch of the brand. Lexus has also been the winner of countless annual Car of the Year awards, around the globe, and has taken first place in the J.D. Powers and Associates Vehicle Dependability index for six straight years from 1995 to 2000.
So the Lexus story is one of a brand that grows from strength to strength. From the secret meeting in 1983 to brand leadership in the imported luxury car market segment in the U.S. is a lesson for students of automobile marketing - how to do it right!
http://www.gulfnews.com/Articles/peo...rticleID=20914
Toyota contracted a vendor in northern California to create a name for the new luxury vehicle line. The name "Lexus" was created by combining two words that they felt best depicted the vehicle, "luxury" and "elegance."
Last edited by Gekko; 01-25-04 at 09:21 AM.
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