Japanese Luxury Cars (part 2)

The idea of a Japanese luxury car used to be an oxymoron. In the 70s and early 80s Japan gained its foothold in the US by offering up small, economical and efficient cars.

After that, the US economy took off and they fat Americans forgot about their little cars…or just couldn’t fit in them any more.

A new breed of car driver was born – the yuppie…and they wanted BMWs, Benzs and Audis to drive…not little wind-up cars like the Japanese made.

Japan responded and with Japanese quality -

In 1983, Toyoda Eiji, chairman of Toyota held a secret meeting discussing the fact that it was time for Toyota to create a top-level luxury car.

In Toyota like fashion…focus groups, dealer interviews in major US markets, lifestyle studies and development of design concepts suited for American was initiated and carried through.

In January of 1988 the Lexus was introduced. Also in 1988 Toyota ran all of its dealerships through a demanding selection process. The first dealership went up in Columbus, Oh.

In its first month of sales, Toyota sold 3,000 cars. Let’s see what is 3,000 x $40,000+? In its first full year of sales, Toyota sold 60,000 units.

The crybaby Americans couldn’t beat them so they sued them. Lexis, a legal information firm sued Toyota over its name. Toyota won.

And now Lexus is at the top of the list of all quality ratings.

Toyota did luxury…Japan does luxury…and they did it with Japanese quality.

What do you think of that?

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