The origins of Lexus-what you should know Lexus fans

For most of its history the Toyota Motor held fairly traditional approach to the foundations would limit cash and expanding slowly, but in the last decade has undergone a huge transformation. With market share and revenue of the manufacturer of mass has become lean, i.e. non-profit machine unafraid tap into the chest of the war 30 billion USD to takeover GM and all the other corners. Starting around 2003, Toyota Motor to abandon his philosophy of low but constant earnings in Passionate pursuit of profits. Keep in mind that the size of its business profit margin increased from just 2% in 1993 to 8% in 2003 (then back to 0.8% in 2009). That closely reflects the fortunes of the trajectory of the earnings Lexus brand in the USA.

Tectonic shift towards the higher profit-margin vehicles Toyota Motor rear dates, in large part, hush-hush meeting at Headquarters in August 1983. In this session, the top-secret Toyota Motor top brass debated so sensitive project car was codenamed surrounded by letter f or maru-ERF (later known as F1 internally-no connection to the circumference of the Formula 1). That the nom de guerre was a nod to its status of a make-or-break as (F) the flagship, the No. 1 vehicle. President Eiji Toyoda posed a question to the August gathering of executives, designers, engineers and thinkers strategic-Toyota Motor Joint Chiefs of staff. "Are we able to produce a luxury car to confront: the very best?" he asked. The man, the assembled generals Toyota Motor Empire its response "Unison": Yes-"' yes ' Full conviction. And more: Toyota must take on this challenge, "as the Official Toyota history tells it.

In fact, however, not everyone was sold on it from the beginning. Shoichiro Toyoda, the founder's son and successor of Eiji company as Chairman and President, had some initial reservations. He wanted to keep up with Toyota Motor took best-build cheap cars for everyman. But Shoichiro, like most others who may have przeczuc, later changed his tune. "The question has been put to me that, with all the success of Toyota in the United States over the past 30 years, why can we spend billions of dollars and thousands of roboczogodziny to invest in research and creative projects to start a new line of sleek vehicles? You might have heard that I'm not fond of riding in limos, built by someone else, "joked told the gathering American dealers shortly after their debut the first Lexus. "Here, there will be no need to ride in vehicles manufactured by the Cadillac or Lincoln or Mercedes-Benz." Eiji Toyoda controversial decision to move upscale finally hit the jackpot.

Not only is the Lexus Division of Toyota Motor most profitable, which auto industry analysts estimate accounts for up to a maximum of one quarter of the entire company's annual earnings, is one of Japan's most lucrative export goods. As Fortune wrote with great foresight 20 years ago: "the inside story of how Lexus came into what is rich in lessons for anyone who is Great for developing products on the market."

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