A fascinating insight into how Toyota conceived, developed and launched its own luxury car brand - Lexus. This remarkable success story will explain how the Japanese giant went from zero to 25% share of the luxury car market in the space of only ten years.

A behind-the-scenes look at Lexus’s surprising twenty-year success story—in a revised new edition In the 1980s, German brands BMW and Mercedes-Benz dominated the luxury car market and had little reason to fear competition from Japan. But in 1989, Toyota entered the market with the Lexus LS 400, a car that could compete with the Germans in every category but price—it was US$30,000 cheaper. Within two years, Lexus had overtaken Mercedes-Benz in the United States and made a stunning success of Toyota’s brave foray into the global luxury market. Lexus: The Relentless Pursuit reveals why Toyota decided to take on the German automakers and how the new brand won praise and success for its unparalleled quality, unforgettable advertising, and unprecedented customer service. From the first boardroom planning session to Lexus's entry into the mega-luxury supercar market, this is the complete and compelling story of one of the world's most admired brands. Includes a new Foreword by legendary designer Erwin Lui, an Afterword with updates since the first edition, and a new Coda by leading Japanese automotive journalist Hisao Inoue Covers the racetrack triumph—and tragedy—behind the new US$375,000 Lexus LFA supercar Offers important business lessons for brand managers and executives For car enthusiasts, business leaders, and anyone interested in branding and marketing, Lexus: The Relentless Pursuit offers an amazing story of excellence and innovation in the automotive industry.

When Lexus launched fifteen years ago, the idea of a Japanese brand that would compete fender to fender with Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Cadillac seemed preposterous. But Lexus' first sedan shocked the world. The result of hundreds of prototypes, the work of more than 1,000 engineers, and some $1 billion, the Lexus LS 400 pioneered new ground.Within just a few years, Lexus had transformed itself from an unlikely outsider into one of the industry's leaders as it redefined the idea of the luxury vehicle while also building a dealer network that gave unprecedented attention to service. The Lexus Story describes the brand's rapid ascent-and its travails along the way. The Lexus Story is the first journalistic telling of the history of this extraordinary company. And it is the only account afforded full access to the designers, engineers, dealers, and company leaders who molded the cars and the brand.The Lexus Story takes readers deep inside the making of first-class automobiles, from the creative sparks kindled in Lexus' far-flung design studios to the engineering refinements that translate ideals of performance and luxury into steel, glass, and rubber. Designed to be both readable and visually welcoming with more than 200 full-color photographs, The Lexus Story is a compelling history of a world-class brand.

How to speed up business processes, improve quality, and cut costs in any industry In factories around the world, Toyota consistently makes the highest-quality cars with the fewest defects of any competing manufacturer, while using fewer man-hours, less on-hand inventory, and half the floor space of its competitors. The Toyota Way is the first book for a general audience that explains the management principles and business philosophy behind Toyota's worldwide reputation for quality and reliability. Complete with profiles of organizations that have successfully adopted Toyota's principles, this book shows managers in every industry how to improve business processes by: Eliminating wasted time and resources Building quality into workplace systems Finding low-cost but reliable alternatives to expensive new technology Producing in small quantities Turning every employee into a qualitycontrol inspector

Covers U.S. and Canadian models of Toyota Highlander for 2001 thru 2007 and Lexus RX 300/330 for 1999 thru 2006.