An overview of the Lexus motor company.

A short article covering the history of Lexus.

Lexus initially started as a luxury subsidiary of the Toyota motor company in 1989 the Toyota chairman, Eiji Toyoda started the brand with the ethos “Can we create a luxury vehicle to challenge the world’s best?”

The flagship project was called F1 simply because the company wanted to create a flagship car that was a number one seller. In 1989 Lexus released their first vehicle, the LS 400 which received instant critical acclaim. This was due to the fact that the company carried out extensive consumer research and took inspiration from what they found to create the ideal luxury sedan.

The LS 400 garnered positive reviews due to its aerodynamic form, fuel efficiency and quality interior, it also put Lexus on the map as a serious contender in the luxury car market. In 1991 the company was awarded  top place on J.D. Power and Associates list of high quality vehicles, Lexus also topped the customer satisfaction poll. Then during 1993 the company launched the brand new GS line and a second generation of LS 400 was released the following year, again to critical acclaim.

Currently Lexus are focusing on developing and improving hybrid vehicles such as the inclusion of LED headlamps in the LS 600h; this was the first production car to feature this technology. The company has also been constantly improving the safety and security features of its vehicles through the inclusion of cutting edge technology like lane keep assist, facial recognition monitoring that checks driver attentiveness and rear pre-collision whiplash protection. The Lexus CT 200h is set to be released this year and features an electric drive motor and a total system horsepower of 134hp.