LEXUS – Japan’s biggest premium car sellers are now outsiders supplying their products all over the world. It was introduced to the USA market in 1989 as a luxury division of Toyota Motor Corporation. Code-named F1, the secret flagship sedan project began in 1983 and resulted in the original Lexus LS debuting in 1989. Based in Nagoya, Japan, Lexus is the luxury division of automaker Toyota. Operational centres can be found in Brussels, Belgium, and Torrance, California, USA.

Lexus’s foray into this area covers the Lexus marque which is dispensed in upward of 70 countries and regions worldwide and positioned among the top 10 Japanese global brand names in market price. In 2005, a hybrid version of the RX crossover was launched, and other hybrid models were created that further bolstered the company. In 2007, the IS F sport sedan and in 2009, the LFA supercar kicked off the F marque performance division. Lexus vehicles have been produced in Japan since production began, with manufacturing concentrated throughout the Chubu and Kyushu regions and especially at Toyota’s Tahara, Aichi, and Miyata, Fukuoka plants. Lexus would also design, engineer, and operate manufacturing centres independently.

Lexus took the company to huge markets with the entry of global expansion. The division opened domestic-market dealerships in Japan in 2005, the first time a Japanese premium car marque had opened in its homeland. Following a series of further debuts in Southeast Asia, Latin America, Europe, and more export regions. The division’s lineup has also been broadened to better reflect regional specificities in model and powertrain configurations.

Lexus climbed back to sales success in North America and Asia in 2010 as the marquee tried to fill out its hybrid lineup and derivatives of existing models. The 2009-2010 recalls affected several Lexus models, but sales in the U.S. remained steady during that period. The ES 350 and some IS models were involved in a recall to remove potentially jamming floor mats, and its parent company’s problems, along with a larger series of issues behind its various product recalls and problem per vehicle rate, earned it the worst negative publicity. The redesigned GX 460 was also subjected to a voluntary recall in April 2010 to update the software, one week after Consumer Reports gave a do-not-buy recommendation for the SUV due to a potential rollover risk after the stability control responded slowly to a high-speed emergency maneuver. While the publication was unaware of any reported incidents, the GX 460 was given updated stability control software. In 2011, Lexus sold a small European-oriented LEXUS hybrid four-door hatchback model in several markets. The global sales total was 410,000 units, compared with U.S. sales down 14 per cent, Europe up 40 per cent, and Japan up 27 per cent. Lexus’ 11-year winning streak as the best-selling luxury marque in the U.S. was somewhat scintillating, facing the brutal market competition.

Sales of the fourth generation GS line began in January 2012, with GS 350 and GS 450h variants being available and a lower-displacement GS 250 model being marketed in certain regions. The sixth-generation ES series (ES 350 and ES 300h variants) made its world debut at the 2012 New York International Auto Show in April.