Lexus

The official date of birth of the new brand (not yet having a name at the time), focused on the production of luxury cars, is considered to be August 1983. At a secret meeting of the board of directors of Toyota, its head Eiji Toyoda announced his decision that the corporation should create its own representative car. class, and it should be the best products of the leading automakers in everything. In the early 1980s, there was a slow but steady growth in the luxury car market, especially in North America, and Toyota, which had good sales in the USA, could not stand aside. According to the results of numerous marketing research by the leadership of TMS , it was decided to create a new brand.

There were two opinions on the name of the brand in the management of the corporation: some believed that a new name was needed so that there was no association with the Toyota brand, which produced generally inexpensive models; others were sure: a new car should be sold only under the name “Toyota”, both to increase the brand’s reputation and to attract customers to lower-class models of the company.

However, studies and surveys of Americans showed that the assumptions of the first side turned out to be true: in the US, the name “Toyota”, as it turned out, was more associated not with passenger cars, but generally with pickups, due to the characteristics of TMS advertising and marketing. This fact, plus the strong beliefs of the employees of the development and brand promotion group, still inclined the company's management, namely, Eiji Toyoda to make his final choice in favor of the new name.

In 1986, Saatchi & Saatchi, an advertising agency that had served Toyota for a long time, formed a special division, Team One, whose main function was the creation and development of a new premium brand for Toyota. On the order of Team One, the consulting company Lippincott & Margulies formed a list of 219 names from which it was necessary to choose the name of a new brand. The name Alexis turned out to be the most preferable option, however, due to strong associations with Alexis Carrington, the character of the Dynasty series popular in the 1980s, it was decided to transform the name into Lexus.

The origin of the name Lexus is often referred to as a combination of the words “luxury” (luxury) and “elegance” (elegance). According to another theory, Lexus is an acronym for the phrase “luxury exports to US”. However, Team One claimed that the Lexus brand name does not have special meaning, and that the word Lexus simply conveys the image of luxury and manufacturability.

The history of the creation of the car Lexus is described in one of the chapters of the famous book by Toyota historian Jeffrey Lyker ^[2] .

Lexus CT

CT 200h is a hybrid golf class car.

Lexus HS (Toyota SAI)

The HS 250h is a middle class hybrid car.

Lexus GS (Toyota Aristo)

The GS 450h is the world's first hybrid business-class sedan .

Lexus IS (Toyota Altezza)

Lexus IS is a middle-class car with rear wheel drive, also produced (in Japan) under the Toyota Altezza brand.

Lexus IS was introduced as a car that occupied a niche below the ES level to become a direct competitor to the BMW 3 Series , the Mercedes-Benz C-Class ' and the Nissan Skyline / Infiniti G35 sports sedans .

In the US and Europe, sales of the Lexus IS 300 were very low. In the US market, sales fell from 22,486 cars in 2001 to less than 10,000 in 2004.

The first generation Altezza (XE10) was released in Japan in October 1998. Altezza replaced the Toyota Corona Exiv / Toyota Carina ED , but unlike its predecessors, it received rear-wheel drive instead of the front. In 1999, the car appeared in Europe under the brand Lexus IS 200. In 2001 in North America - under the brand Lexus IS 300.

The first generation Altezza was produced in three versions. The platform’s donors were: Toyota Mark-2 (since 1998), Toyota Crown (since 1998), Toyota Cresta (since 1998).

In 2005, the second generation car was released. The new IS 250 of the 2006 model year is equipped with a V-shaped 4GR-FSE engine with a capacity of 208 liters. with. c Dual VVT-i. It has a 6-speed automatic transmission with sequential shift. Drive to the rear wheels. Acceleration to 100 km / h takes 8.1 seconds, the maximum speed of 220 km / h.

Modifications:

• RS200 (4 cylinders, 210 hp engine with a volume of 2 liters, 6-speed manual transmission)
• AS200 (6-cylinder in-line engine, power - 160 hp, 4-speed automatic transmission)
• IS220 (4-cylinder, 177-horsepower 2.2-liter diesel engine, 6-speed manual transmission)

Lexus RC

Lexus RC - compact coupe.

Lexus ES (Toyota Windom)

The Lexus ES is a mid-size business-class sedan worth about $ 70,000, competing in the US with the Mercedes-Benz E350, Infiniti M35, Lexus GS and manufactured since 1989.

Generations:

• 1st generation: ES 250 (1989–1991)
• 2nd generation: ES 300 (1991–1996)
• 3rd generation: ES 300 (1996–2001)
• 4th generation: ES 300, ES 330 (2001—2006)
• 5th generation: ES 350 (2007–2011)
• 6th generation: ES 250, ES350 (2012-n. In.)

The engine is equipped with a six-speed automatic transmission ECT-I. The aerodynamic resistance index ES equals 0.28. Produced in Japan at the Kyushu plant in Fukuoka on the Toyota Avalon platform. In terms of size, it is located between GS and LS sedans, at a price between the IS250 and GS 430. ES is the first front-wheel-drive Lexus in the modern line, since everyone else has either rear -wheel drive or four-wheel drive .

Lexus LS (Toyota Celsior)

Lexus LS - luxury car .

Toyota Celsior Generations:

• The first generation (1989-1994)
• The second generation (1995-2000)
• The third generation (August 2000—2006)
• Fourth generation (2006 - present)

The first and second generation Toyota Celsior was equipped with a 1UZ-FE engine capacity of 4 liters. The third generation Toyota Celsior (outside of Japan - Lexus LS 430 ) debuted in August 2000. Engine capacity increased to 4.3 liters. Since 2006, a hybrid Lexus LS 600 h has been produced, with a 5-liter (327 kW) V8 gasoline engine and an electric motor (165 kW).

Lexus LX (Toyota Land Cruiser)

Lexus LX is a full-size 8-seater Lexus SUV . The present generation is based on the Toyota Land Cruiser 200 . At the moment, is already the third generation of the SUV.

Lexus GX (Toyota Land Cruiser Prado)

Lexus GX - mid-size SUV, produced since 2002. It has a common platform with the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado . Since 2009, released the second generation.

Lexus NX

Lexus NX - compact crossover.

Lexus RX (Toyota Harrier)

Lexus RX - mid-size crossover (harrier (Eng.) - Hound, the second version of the translation - harrier).

In the export version was a series of Lexus RX (RX 300, RX 330, RX 350). When developing the Toyota Harrier, the Toyota Camry was taken as a basis. The Toyota Harrier Hybrid ( Lexus RX400h , Lexus RX450h ) is built on the HSD .

First generation engines:

• Inline 4-cylinder 2.2 liters 140 liters. with. (5S-FE)
• Inline 4-cylinder 2.4 liters 160 liters. with. (2AZ-FE)
• V-shaped 6-cylinder 3.0 liters 186 liters. with. (1MZ-FE)
• V-shaped 6-cylinder 3.0 l 201 l. with. (1MZ-FE)
• V-shaped 6-cylinder 3.0 liters 220 liters. with. (1MZ-FE)

Second generation engines:

• Inline 4-cylinder 2.4 liters 160 liters. with. (2AZ-FE)
• V-shaped 6-cylinder 3.0 liters 204 liters. with. (Harrier has 220 HP) (1MZ-FE)
• V-shaped 6-cylinder 3.3 liters 233 liters. with. (3MZ-FE)
• V-shaped 6-cylinder 3.5 liters 276 liters. with. (2GR-FE)
• Hybrid V-shaped 6-cylinder 3.3 liters 272 liters. with. (3MZ-FE)

Lexus UX

Lexus UX - compact crossover.

The car will be offered in two versions: petrol UX 200 and hybrid UX 250h. In addition, a design package F Sport with a modified suspension. All Lexus UX are equipped with a Dynamic Force 2.0 engine (171 hp, 205 N • m) and a new Direct Shift variator. The 250h version is additionally equipped with an 80-kilowatt electric motor and an all-wheel drive E-Four, its power - 178 hp. Safety is provided by the Lexus Safety System + ^[3] .

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  Lexus LS Sport

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  Salon Lexus LS

• Toyota house

•   Lexus : Wikimedia Commons
• lexus.ru - the official website of Lexus