LexusMan77

I do not think we should take the head designer's comments too much into consideration. He did not mention anything too specific and it is a given since he does not want to give out future plans. I thought he said enough in that Lexus designs were going to be bolder and different from today's. That in itself provides some hope. We just have to wait and see.

In terms of models specifically, I think Lexus needs to offer more sport models or sport packages for certain models giving buyers the option to go with the luxury base soft riding model or the more performance oriented sport model. A great example of this would be the current LS line. The LS sport package is nowhere near a AMG or M competitor but it does diversify the choices for customers looking for a bit more sport than the regular LS460.

Fizzboy7

I wouldn't say "excessively." Today's LS and ES are hardly sporty. But I agree, as an industry, there has been a slight creep in the direction of sport. We can credit technology for allowing cars to ride smoother but not plow as much in corners as the old DeVilles and Roadmasters did.
On a related note, cars that can tow are pretty much a thing of the past.

mmarshall

True, but neither rides as smooth as their predecessors did...the increase in suspension/tire stiffness, while not harsh, is noticeable. Both, however (fortunately) retained their tomb-quietness.


That's because they won't do separate body-on-frames any more, except for trucks and some SUVs. Almost everything today is unibody. Even the last hold-outs, the body-on-frame Crown Vic/Grand Marquis/Town Car are virtually extinct as new cars.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

i agree completely!
i do also like the LX570 interior a whole bunch but that vehicle costs about 2.5x as much.

i also think lexus is completely lost at this point except for the RX really.
LS is slick but doesn't compete with 7 or S.
ES looks like a barely improved Camry.
GS is functionally challenged and not very sporty, although the GS450h is QUICK (but not marketed!).
IS is OK but getting old, cramped in back and back seats don't fold down (do they?) like some competitors.
HS is HIDEOUS and overpriced
RX - great
GX - meh
LX - very nice although exterior styling is awkward

GS69

Lexus Needs to be More Movie Star than RunWay Model Says Toyota Design Chief Tokuo Fukuichi

Lexus wants to be more than just another pretty face.

The Japanese luxury automaker is revamping its entire lineup, intent on creating cars that truly stand out. First it was the Lexus ES, followed by the GS, then the LS. Now it’s the IS’s turn.

Tokuo Fukuichi, who, as the chief of design for parent company Toyota Motor Corp., is charged with leading Lexus’ design revolution, says the new cars emphasize character over classic beauty.

“Up until now, Lexus has built good products, but in some cases they haven’t been that distinctive,” the quiet and unassuming Fukuichi tells me an interview, shortly before the unveiling of the all-new 2014 Lexus IS.

He likens previous Lexus designs to runway models. Few remember the models by name after a fashion show, despite their stunning faces and perfect figures. The newly redesigned cars are meant to be more like movie stars instead.

“If you think about famous actors and actresses, they don’t necessarily have perfect proportions. They might not have a perfect face. But they have character, so we remember them,” Fukuichi says.

Incorporating a “spindle grille” on all of its cars is one way Lexus hopes to become the automotive equivalent of Owen Wilson or Bruce Willis.

The grille has caused a stir since it debuted on the midsize GS sedan in February 2012. Many welcome its bold hourglass shape and say it creates a recognizable face for Lexus cars. Others question Lexus’ decision to make such a big departure in design. 1 critic even raised the issue at Toyota’s annual shareholder meeting in June.

Fukuichi is taking the controversy in stride.

“The shape is really based on function,” Fukuichi says, pointing to an image of the 2014 Lexus IS on his iPad. He traces his fingers along the lines that emanate from either side of the grille into the hood and up toward the windshield. The fluid shape smooths airflow over the car, which keeps it stable and improves fuel economy.

But as distinctive as the new spindle grille is, Fukuichi is not overly attached to it. “Maybe we should change the shape in the future,” he says.

It isn’t that he doesn’t like the look. It’s just that Fukuichi is not one to get caught up in a particular styling detail for its own sake. He believes design needs to keep evolving. “Regarding changes in design, no one has 100% confidence,” he says. “No 1 can really say with pure certainty that, ‘In 2 years, this will sell well.’”

It is precisely this kind of willingness to continually reinvent and take risks that prompted Akio Toyoda, president and chief executive of Toyota, to pluck Fukuichi from virtual obscurity 2 years ago and ask him to overhaul the company’s design process.

It was a sudden change of trajectory for Fukuichi, who had been starting to think about retirement. At that point, the longtime Toyota veteran had already moved on from the parent company to work in its Kanto Auto Works division, which has since been sold off. “When you transfer to a sister company, usually you never come back,” he says.

Toyoda reached out because he knew of Fukuichi from a project several decades ago. “I worked with him before, in ’89 or ’90, on the first Toyota Previa model. I designed it,” says Fukuichi, 61. “Maybe he was impressed with what I had done.”

That minivan caused a commotion in its day, with an ovoid shape that wouldn’t have been out of place in a sci-fi film. It was a risk that Toyoda would remember as he took the helm of Toyota in 2009. The ailing automotive giant had been eviscerated by the Great Recession, multiple natural disasters in Asia, and self-inflicted wounds from growing too large too fast. Toyoda’s turnaround strategy hinged on shaking up the company’s ingrained committee-think culture.

“Basically, Akio felt at that point that we were close to death; it wouldn’t be unusual for the company to fail in those conditions,” Fukuichi says. “So in one sense, it was a good time to join,” because the company was ready to let go of the way things had always been done.

“We could all take a look, and everyone at Toyota had that feeling as well, things had to change,” he says.

1 of the most important changes Fukuichi made was removing stifling layers of bureaucracy from the design process so that bold ideas could flourish.

Until 2 years ago, as many as 100 people would give input on a single vehicle’s design, he says. “So you end up with a design that no one is offended by, but also no one falls in love with it. You end up with just a pretty face.”

Today, a handful of key people have the final say on the design of any given vehicle. “Now, only the people directly related with the project are the ones deciding,” he says.

Though Fukuichi visits each of Toyota’s three main design studios—in Tokyo, Newport Beach, California and Nice, France—about 3 times a year, he is cognizant that too much input from him might stifle the creative process. He wants to let the designers’ ideas bloom, not impose his own.

“If I touch the model, then they cannot change it,” he says, when asked whether he still likes to mold clay concepts. “If they have a better idea or not, nobody would know. So that’s why I don’t want to touch—I keep out.”

But he has at least one guiding principle for everyone: each Lexus car design must have the “J-factor.”

“J” stands for “Japanese,” and Fukuichi describes the J-factor as bringing harmony to opposing ideas, a concept ingrained in Japanese culture and embodied in its fusion cuisine.

He pulls up a slide on his iPad to illustrate: it shows a white circle and a red square. They represent opposing ideas seemingly in conflict.

The Western way, he says, would be to favor 1 over the other and end up compromising on both. He points to a diagram of a gray square with rounded edges to represent the compromise.

Fukuichi says the 2014 Lexus IS, which goes on sale in June, incorporates opposing ideas like this in several ways.

1 example he cites is its “snug roominess,” which is to say it has a spacious interior that still gives the feeling of being inside a sports car.

The proportions of the redesigned IS are more alluring than the current model too: short overhangs, long hood, cabin pushed to the rear, so it looks fast even standing still.

It definitely has character. I mention this to Fukuichi, who reacts in his typical quiet way. He leans back with a smile and gives a thumbs up.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

Nice. I like his pragmatism that no design is forever and change is good.

PhilipMSPT

iTrader: (5)

Nice article.

It's a good look into a designer's head, and how Lexus looks at cars in general.

Kira X

iTrader: (24)

That wan an interesting article.

The spindle grille looks funny though.

GS69

Toyota Design Chief Fukuichi to Head Lexus

Toyota Motor Corp. is giving design unprecedented clout in a management shuffle that puts the company's global design chief, Tokuo Fukuichi, in charge of Lexus division and on the board.

Fukuichi, who leads design at the Toyota, Lexus and Scion brands, will take over as president of Lexus International, the company announced today. He will keep his role as head of the worldwide design group.

It's the 1st time a design chief has been the global head of Lexus. He assumes his new duties at Toyota's luxury marque on April 1 but his board appointment will take effect following a general shareholders' meeting, which is usually scheduled in June.

Fukuichi, 58, will take his place on a slightly downsized board where he will fill a slot normally reserved for the head of Lexus International.

Current Lexus International President Kiyotaka Ise will leave the board and become chief officer of the company's r&d group. Ise, an engineer by training, will also oversee materials engineering, fuel cell development and sports vehicle management.

Design focus

Elevating Fukuichi, an outspoken champion of experimenting with more polarizing, eye-catching styling, underscores the imperative of President Akio Toyoda to focus more on design.

Next year's arrival of Toyota's new generation of vehicles using commonized parts is expected to bring a breakthrough in developing vehicles with more head-turning looks. The new product development strategy, dubbed TNGA, will debut in the redesigned Prius hybrid.

The new Toyota board will shrink by 1 seat to 15 executives.

Lexus set a global sales record of more than 523,000 vehicles last year, topping a previous best of 518,300 set in 2007. About half of the brand's worldwide deliveries were in the U.S., where sales climbed 12 percent to 273,847.

BMW and Mercedes-Benz dethroned Lexus as the U.S. luxury sales leader since 2011 after the Japanese brand was No. 1 for 11 years.

Toyota has said reclaiming leadership will be difficult because it has no plans to follow German brands in introducing entry- level vehicles priced below $30,000, such as the Mercedes CLA and Audi A3.

A new CT hybrid began arriving in Lexus's U.S. dealerships in January, and the RC F starts deliveries later this year. Toyota also is evaluating whether to sell the LF-NX crossover, shown at the Tokyo motor show in November, in the U.S. market.

Emerging markets

Lexus aims to grow as much as 10% annually for the next 30 years as it expands in emerging markets including China, Vietnam, Brazil and Peru, Mark Templin, the 2nd executive vice president for the luxury brand, said in a January interview at the Detroit auto show.

Templin, 53, has been a global executive vice president since April 2013, after having managed sales and marketing in the U.S. market.

LexFather

Interesting to see the the growth they expect.. They would join MB,BMW, Benz in selling over million cars a year easy..

Lexus has their eye on design as the article shows and they are no longer afraid to stir things up. The funny thing is My feedback to them was I never had an issue with their style in the past but a lot of it was copied and it was hard for Lexus to stand out. Now with this spindle grill they can truly be distinctive while sharing cues and not ALL LOOKING ALIKE.

With sales up it seems consumers are fine with it. To me I've noticed that people that traditionally never liked a Lexus now point to the style as a big plus and it's now considered.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

yeah they better not get cold feet, it'd be one of the worst moves they ever make NOT to bring it.

pbm317

Terrible article, NX is confirmed for the U.S. Market. C'mon Hoovey, as a Lexus salesperson you should know that... don't you know line off dates and timing of first orders (PPR3?) already?

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

I do, my comment was meant to be funny () as in uh yeah to the article. The sarcasm was there just masked a bit. Sorry I'll word it better next time, I can see how it was misconstrued