BMW and Mercedes-Benz better watch out - Lexus is gunning for their titles as top dogs in the world of premium cars.
In 2005, Toyota will start to sell Lexus in Japan, the world's second largest car market.
Insiders believe that those extra sales along with a whole revamp of the Lexus range worldwide could well put Toyota's luxury car division in pole position.
The process started at the
Tokyo Motor Show where two Lexus design studies were unveiled, with the LF-S in particular said to capture the brand's "new value of high quality."
Lexus has not previously been sold in Japan as a separate brand because of Toyota's complicated five-channel distribution network.
That has now been resolved with two channels, Vista and Netz, which sells cars like the Yaris, merging to make way for Lexus as the new fifth channel.
But the reorganisation goes much deeper than that. Since Lexus models sold elsewhere in the world are also sold under different brand names in Japan, a new range of Lexus models will be developed.
This has meant giving Lexus a dedicated research and development team as well as putting styling right at the core of brand.
For markets like the UK it will mean a much more consistent interpretation of the brand - and a chance to really go head-to-head with other top-range carmakers.
Expect much of the LF-S to appear before too long as the next GS.
Interchange News Agency - 27 Oct 2003