20 Years And Counting: Lexus Continue In Pursuit Of Perfection

Good things come to those that wait, as the saying goes, and since the 1989 launch of the LS 400, Lexus has gone from strength to strength, but it took the Japanese Toyota subsidiary six years research and development before going to production. And Toyota's new line of luxury vehicles, branded Lexus, certainly were worth waiting for, with the LS series bursting onto the US market to critical acclaim.

The SC400 and SC300 were the next step for Lexus in the early nineties, as they stepped up their bid to rival the biggest brands in luxury motoring. Lexus continued to receive accolades from the motoring world's top journalists and also gained recognition from US marketing giants, J D Power & Associates, who named Lexus as the number one car line in multiple categories including customer satisfaction and sales satisfaction.

Yet more awards arrived for Lexus with the SC and ES ranges selling strongly and gaining rave reviews. Lexus used car sales started to gather pace in the US also, as they did worldwide when Lexus was named Best Luxury Import in 1994 by well established US car magazine: Car and Driver.

Lexus vehicles were now regarded worldwide as one of the most reliable brands in the business, and although they held their value in terms of depreciation, Lexus cars were very much sought after by used car consumers and dealers alike.

If it wasn't enough for Lexus to perform strongly in the sports coupes and luxury saloons market, they then developed and produced an SUV, the LX450, which grabbed the attention of consumers in such a way that in the first year of production the LX450 outsold the market leader in the SUV sector, the Range Rover.

In 1996 Automobile magazine released their list of the 24 most influential cars in automobile history, with the Lexus LS400 named as one of them - an impressive feat given Lexus had been in production for only seven years.

Lexus became popular with celebrities also and you couldn't watch a Hip-Hop video or episode of The Sopranos without spotting at least one Lexus. It became the desired drive, and remains exactly that, even though interest may have waned in recent years, though that is true of the car market as a whole, thanks to the credit crunch.
New models of the popular LS and ES Lexus were released along with the hugely powerful GS range, sporting V8 engines and more horses than the starting line at Aintree. Lexus continued to perform well in their three main categories of sports coupe, luxury saloon and SUV heading into the millennium, picking up yet more awards and topping many magazine 'best car' lists.

The crowning moment came for Lexus in 2007 when the LS460 was named World Car of the Year. Lexus's slogan 'the pursuit of perfection' was almost complete, I say almost because Lexus continue striving to improve the quality of their cars across the board.

Having been in production for 20 years, Lexus cars are don't remain on the forecourts of used car dealers for long as Lexus used car sales continue to perform well amidst the global economic downturn. This can only be because of the quality and reputation that Lexus have earned after 20 years in their pursuit for perfection. Word of mouth can remains a powerful medium.

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