“Striving for perfection” – that’s the slogan that appeared right from the moment the luxury car brand Lexus was born from the Toyota family. For over 20 years, the people who have been and are building this brand have been continuously striving to create luxurious and elegant products that live up to its name.
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The idea of “the best car”
In 1983, the president of Toyota at the time, Eiji Toyoda, called a meeting of company executives and posed the question: “Can we create the best, most luxurious car to challenge the world?”
Lexus was born from the idea of “the best car”
Toyota then embarked on a secret project called F1 (Flagship – car number 1). These projects, with the final product being the Lexus LS 400, aimed to develop an extended sedan model of the Toyota product line, seeking a position in the luxury segment, catering to both existing and new customers. Nearly 4,000 people were mobilized to produce the first prototypes in 1985.
In 1986, a long-time advertising company established a dedicated team to create a new luxury brand for Toyota. The consulting firm Lippincott & Margulies was hired to develop a list of potential names such as Vectre, Verine, Chaparel, Calibre, and Alexis chosen as top candidates.
Lexus, a name combining “Luxury” and “Elegance”
The name Alexis – “moving forward” quickly became the chosen one (with a connection to Alexis Carrington, a character in a popular TV series at that time), but later transformed into Lexus, a name that combines “Luxury” and “Elegance”.
Another explanation for the name Lexus is that it is an abbreviation for the phrase “Luxury exports to the U.S”. But according to an interview with leaders, the name Lexus has no specific meaning and simply reflects technology and luxury image.
“Striving for perfection” – that’s the slogan that appeared right from the moment the luxury car brand Lexus was born from the Toyota family. For over 20 years, the people who have been and are building this brand have been continuously striving to create luxurious and elegant products that live up to its name.
The perfect “L”
In terms of product promotion technology principles, one cannot overlook the role of the logo. If Toyota plans to produce the most luxurious product, its logo cannot be ordinary. The quality of the product will be reduced to zero if the symbol of it does not leave any impression. Therefore, the famous logo design company Hunter/Korobkin, Inc. was hired and among hundreds of designs, Toyota decided to use the letter “L” as the official symbol of Lexus.
Toyota chose the letter “L” as the official symbol of Lexus
Although being the afterthought, everything that belongs to Lexus represents perfection. Amidst the thought that the inspiration for a truly meaningful symbol has run out, the Lexus logo appears. It meets all the criteria for logo design and takes shape in the purest form without being associated with any legends or historical stories. It is still the main elliptical shape inspired by the Toyota logo, and the Lexus symbol is the modern stylization of the letter “L”.
The first characteristic that the Lexus logo possesses is differentiation. People cannot talk about themselves when being mistaken for others, and, of course, the logo cannot represent anything that does not belong to Lexus. The size of the outer elliptical shape of the logo has a long-to-wide axis ratio of 1.4, the letter L is stylized inclined by 50 degrees with two lines of equal thickness, creating a sense of firmness, solidity. The designers tilted the letter L mainly because if it was written straight, it would be easy to be confused with the logo of LG, and furthermore, no elegance can exist without softness and gentleness.
The Lexus logo is unique, emotional, and simple
The height of the letter L is about 75% of the width axis, and there is a similar value between the horizontal line and the long axis, creating balance and harmony in the proportion of the space occupied by the letter L compared to the entire shape. The 75% ratio offsets the asymmetry of the logo, making the observer feel a sense of balance and stability, of static elements within dynamic ones.
The second characteristic that a logo must have is emotional appeal, and the Lexus symbol has it. The entire logo appears with sleek curved lines, no predominantly angular lines, gentle as light wind blowing lightly on the body of the car. Gentle, smooth, friendly but hiding power is the feeling of not a few people when they first see it.
The Lexus logo is the first successful step of a brand
The third characteristic that a logo must have is simplicity. Complexity to create simple lines is much more valuable than complex cluttered lines. Not being confused by horizontal and vertical lines, colors that dazzle, the whole logo consists of unified color curved lines. Taking inspiration from the “@” character in information technology, the Lexus symbol suddenly becomes more familiar to consumers. And that is the essence of modernity. Not going too far from the perspective of the community, but also not trivializing, truly the Lexus logo is the first successful step of a brand.
Born in January 1989 in North America, the LS 400 was officially sold in the network of 81 Lexus dealerships across the United States. The introduction of Lexus was promoted by a multimillion-dollar advertising campaign in both print and television.
LS 400 was launched in January 1989 in North America
The initial steps, LS 400 was highly regarded for its low noise, automatic modern interior, fuel efficiency, and reasonable price. Car and Driver magazine rated LS 400 better than Mercedes-Benz and BMW 735i in terms of speed, handling, and handling efficiency.
The launch of the LS 400 was a major shock for car brands in Europe at the time, with BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the United States seeing a decline in sales of 29% and 19% respectively. Along with that, the CEO of BMW accused Lexus of selling at a discounted price in the US market.
In December 1989, Lexus began a voluntary recall of all 8,000 LS 400s sold based on two customer complaints about electrical system failures. In 20 days, Lexus dispatched all of its technical staff to provide free transportation for repairing to customers far away. This action was praised in the media and helped establish Toyota’s reputation for reliable customer service.
Since 1989, Lexus has developed a reputation for reliable and quality products
At the end of 1989, 16,329 LS 400 and ES 250 4-door sedans were sold in 4 months. After the initial model, Toyota plans to design a 2-seater sports coupe and the redesigned ES 4-door sedan.
Since its inception, Lexus has developed a reputation for reliable quality and attentive customer care services. The customer survey company, J.D. Power and Associates, has chosen Lexus as the most reliable car brand in the US forty times, most recently in 2008, based on surveys of the reliability of car brands with the participation of over 53,000 car owners and the issues encountered in the first 3 years after buying a car.
Lexus service aims for perfection
From its inception to the present, Lexus cars are still regularly produced in Japan, with production centers located in Chūbu and Kyūshū regions, especially at Toyota’s Tahara plant in Aichi, Chūbu, and Kyūshū plant in Miyata, Fukuoka. The first Lexus assembled outside of Japan was the RX 330 produced in Ontario, Canada in 2003. After a corporate restructuring from 2001 to 2005, Lexus took responsibility for all stages of production from design to mechanics.
Thanh Dat (TTTD/Compiled)
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