All Lexus NEWS Official Thread
10-22-04, 06:40 PM
#18
Guest
Posts: n/a
[IMG]http://www.auto-motor-und-sport.de/sixcms/media.php/23/LF-C_10_450.jpg[/IMGWoe to rivals in Europe if Toyota ramps up power, handling
By Christine Tierney / The Detroit News
Plain vanilla may be fine for most people, evidenced by Toyota Motor Co.’s relentless sales gains in the United States with predictable and reliable cars like the Camry sedan.
But despite its glowing reputation for quality, Toyota is losing out with customers who want the kind of responsive handling and satisfying performance that has created a loyal following for German cars, even now with their reliability ratings slipping.
Now, in its plodding and methodical way, Toyota is addressing this shortcoming — and woe to European manufacturers if the Japanese giant succeeds in adding cars to its 29-model North American lineup that deliver both superb handling and top-notch quality at a reasonable price.
At the New York International Auto Show opening this week, Toyota’s upscale Lexus brand will unveil a concept car, the LFC, which hints at the next-generation Lexus IS 300 sports sedan. With the new model, which will probably debut in 2005, Toyota will step up efforts to provide the grittier handling and performance that car enthusiasts crave.
“We’re never going to be all about performance. We’re not BMW,” says Lexus General Manager Dennis Clements.
“But we could be more competitive, offering better handling and better 0-to-60 (acceleration).
“We have the engineering capability. There’s no national mystique to that,” he says.
With the next-generation IS, Lexus will offer a variety of handling styles and engines, as opposed to the current model. It comes with one engine option, a six cylinder, compared with three engines and four different body styles for BMW’s 3-Series, and that doesn’t include its diesel motor in Europe.
The Lexus IS is an excellent starting point: the company can tinker with the car without alienating customers who prefer cushier handling. Its similarly-priced Lexus ES will continue to stress comfort.
Toyota believes it could triple IS sales in the next generation by offering an array of engines and configurations, as the Germans do.
The current model generated 1,450 sales in the United States in the first two months of the year, compared with 14,060 for the 3-Series, which is also nearing the end of its cycle.
Despite its modest showing, the IS is a crucial vehicle: Not only is it Lexus’s contender in one of the fastest-growing car segments, but it also appeals to young customers that Toyota needs to bring consumers into the group at an earlier age.
The average age of its customers is 47, even including the Gen X and Y owners of its funky Scion-brand vehicles. But the typical IS consumer is 30.
An IS with more oomph will be crucial both to Lexus’s plans to grow in Europe, where the brand is struggling against local luxury marques and the company’s drive to appeal to young buyers.
Even in the United States, they tend to like European-style handling more than their parents do, says Jim Farley, vice president of Scion. For instance, the suspensions on the Scion xA and boxy xB models are tuned much harder than on similar Toyota-brand cars.
In the next few years, as Toyota strives to build cars that can better compete against the Europeans on performance, the Europeans will be scrambling to narrow the gap with the Japanese on quality. Either way, drivers will come out the winners
10-22-04, 06:43 PM
#19
Guest
Posts: n/a
From PerryinLA
PRESS RELEASE: Lexus Sells RX 330 and Reaches Two-Millionth Milestone in USA
Lexus Reaches Two-Millionth Milestone
MARGATE, Fla., April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Lexus announced today its 2 millionth sale in the U.S., an RX 330 luxury SUV purchased by Steven Sandman, 40, of Boca Raton, Fla. at JM Lexus in Margate, Fla. on April 2. The Lexus RX 330 is the top selling luxury sport utility vehicle and created the popular cross-over vehicle segment with its introduction in 1989.
"The RX is by far the most popular luxury SUV in America," said Bob Carter, Lexus vice president of sales, who was on hand to recognize the company's milestone achievement with the dealer and their customer. "The company is celebrating today's accomplishment around the world, and we thought our newest Lexus owner should share in our excitement to help them remember this special occasion."
Lexus presented Sandman and his wife, Beth, with a 4-day, 3-night luxury golf and spa vacation to the Pebble Beach Resort in California. The couple will fly first-class from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco and have the use of a Lexus RX 330 during their stay.
The RX 330 sold to Sandman was built at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Inc. (TMMC), Lexus' award-winning production facility in Ontario, Canada and the company's first assembly line on North American soil. From the start, the groundbreaking RX luxury SUV has offered the best of all worlds, pairing the increased interior space and ideal ride height of an SUV with the top-drawer amenities and smooth ride of a luxury sedan. In the years since, Lexus has continually refined the concept, and in 2003 introduced the second generation RX 330 -- 6.1 inches longer and powered by a larger 3.3-liter V6 engine.
Lexus presented Dave Mullen, JM Lexus Vice President and General Manager, with the company's Milestone Award and provided a $25,000 donation on behalf of the dealership to two local charities, the Youth Automotive Training Center, (www.yatc.com), which trains and educates at-risk youth in basic automotive repair, academic remediation, job readiness and life management skills and Deliver the Dream, (www.deliverthedream.org) which provides retreat weekends to help families and children coping with life-threatening illnesses or other crises.
SOURCE Toyota Motor Sales
CO: Toyota Motor Sales; Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Inc.; JM Lexus
ST: Florida, California, Canada
SU: AWD
Web site: http://www.yatc.com
http://www.prnewswire.com
04/06/2004 14:00 EDT
PRESS RELEASE: Lexus Sells RX 330 and Reaches Two-Millionth Milestone in USA
Lexus Reaches Two-Millionth Milestone
MARGATE, Fla., April 6 /PRNewswire/ -- Lexus announced today its 2 millionth sale in the U.S., an RX 330 luxury SUV purchased by Steven Sandman, 40, of Boca Raton, Fla. at JM Lexus in Margate, Fla. on April 2. The Lexus RX 330 is the top selling luxury sport utility vehicle and created the popular cross-over vehicle segment with its introduction in 1989.
"The RX is by far the most popular luxury SUV in America," said Bob Carter, Lexus vice president of sales, who was on hand to recognize the company's milestone achievement with the dealer and their customer. "The company is celebrating today's accomplishment around the world, and we thought our newest Lexus owner should share in our excitement to help them remember this special occasion."
Lexus presented Sandman and his wife, Beth, with a 4-day, 3-night luxury golf and spa vacation to the Pebble Beach Resort in California. The couple will fly first-class from Fort Lauderdale to San Francisco and have the use of a Lexus RX 330 during their stay.
The RX 330 sold to Sandman was built at Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Inc. (TMMC), Lexus' award-winning production facility in Ontario, Canada and the company's first assembly line on North American soil. From the start, the groundbreaking RX luxury SUV has offered the best of all worlds, pairing the increased interior space and ideal ride height of an SUV with the top-drawer amenities and smooth ride of a luxury sedan. In the years since, Lexus has continually refined the concept, and in 2003 introduced the second generation RX 330 -- 6.1 inches longer and powered by a larger 3.3-liter V6 engine.
Lexus presented Dave Mullen, JM Lexus Vice President and General Manager, with the company's Milestone Award and provided a $25,000 donation on behalf of the dealership to two local charities, the Youth Automotive Training Center, (www.yatc.com), which trains and educates at-risk youth in basic automotive repair, academic remediation, job readiness and life management skills and Deliver the Dream, (www.deliverthedream.org) which provides retreat weekends to help families and children coping with life-threatening illnesses or other crises.
SOURCE Toyota Motor Sales
CO: Toyota Motor Sales; Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada, Inc.; JM Lexus
ST: Florida, California, Canada
SU: AWD
Web site: http://www.yatc.com
http://www.prnewswire.com
04/06/2004 14:00 EDT
10-22-04, 06:45 PM
#20
Guest
Posts: n/a
From Fern, Lexus Factory best in the world
Robot-filled Tahara sets standard for Toyota, world
Japanese facility puts focus on details
By Christine Tierney / The Detroit News
Comment on this story
Send this story to a friend
Get Home Delivery
It is the benchmark of benchmarks: Toyota Motor Co.p.’s untouchable Tahara plant on Japan’s eastern coast.
In 2003, for the second year in a row, J.D. Power and Associates bestowed its highest honor — the platinum award for best quality worldwide — on the Tahara factory that produces Lexus and Toyota vehicles.
Owners of models built at the plant, including the Lexus GS 300 and 430 and LS 430 luxury sedans, reported 63 defects per 100 vehicles — about one-third fewer than owners of premium cars built at the best BMW AG and Mercedes-Benz auto plants in Germany, according to J.D. Power data.
Conceived during Japan’s economic boom, the plant was filled with robots, amid fears of labor shortages and Toyota’s great faith in automation. As one of the automaker’s newer plants, it also allowed Toyota to experiment with new manufacturing ideas and production methods.
Set on a small peninsula on the Mikawa Bay, the factory was designed to be “worker friendly” to attract a new generation of workers who had viewed factory work as dirty, arduous and dangerous.
“It’s one of the most beautiful plants, and very neat and tidy,” said Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Koji Endo in Tokyo. The setting is lovely, too, with fishing on the quays outside.
Built in 1979, “Tahara was actually considered a mistake because it was much too automated,” said auto analyst Maryann Keller of Maryann Keller and Associates in Greenwich, Conn. In terms of costs, “it was not a competitive factory when they built it.”
The sprawling plant is air-conditioned. Computer-controlled robots do the heavy lifting and dirty work. More than 95 percent of the stamping, welding and painting operations are automated, while plant workers focus on the trim and final assembly — the details a customer notices.
Today, Tahara produces 460,000 vehicles a year in its two body shops and three assembly plants. In addition to Lexus exports, the plant complex assembles Toyota’s domestic luxury car, the Crown, the RAV4 sport-utility vehicle and three other models.
Rival luxury automakers may murmur that Lexus cars are merely “souped-up Toyotas” because the two brands share a wide array of parts. But suppliers to Toyota know better.
Tahara sets and demands the highest standards.
Toyota, already a stickler for quality, will not accept components if defects exceed 50 per million parts shipped. In contrast, for Lexus vehicles, Tahara managers insist on fewer than 10 defects per million parts.
From the outset, former plant manager Kousuke Shiramizu, now executive vice president in charge of product and product engineering, established that the margin for error for Lexus vehicles would be half what it was at Toyota.
On average at Toyota, air leaks from car exhaust systems are held to 100 liters per minute, to reduce noise. On Lexus models produced at the Tahara plant, the ceiling is a stingy 8.6 liters of air per minute.
The plant’s strict quality checks include a final stretch of inspections for cars coming off the line under the unforgiving glare of very bright lights.
Toyota also tinkered with changes in the assembly line organization at Tahara, establishing several sub-assembly lines so temporary stoppages would not halt all production.
“Tahara’s the next plateau,” said consultant Dennis Pawley, former manufacturing chief at Chrysler. “Rather than having one continuous line, they’re going against the old adage and breaking up the line.”
Living up to Tahara’s standards keeps everyone at Toyota plants around the world on their toes.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...highlight=news
Robot-filled Tahara sets standard for Toyota, world
Japanese facility puts focus on details
By Christine Tierney / The Detroit News
Comment on this story
Send this story to a friend
Get Home Delivery
It is the benchmark of benchmarks: Toyota Motor Co.p.’s untouchable Tahara plant on Japan’s eastern coast.
In 2003, for the second year in a row, J.D. Power and Associates bestowed its highest honor — the platinum award for best quality worldwide — on the Tahara factory that produces Lexus and Toyota vehicles.
Owners of models built at the plant, including the Lexus GS 300 and 430 and LS 430 luxury sedans, reported 63 defects per 100 vehicles — about one-third fewer than owners of premium cars built at the best BMW AG and Mercedes-Benz auto plants in Germany, according to J.D. Power data.
Conceived during Japan’s economic boom, the plant was filled with robots, amid fears of labor shortages and Toyota’s great faith in automation. As one of the automaker’s newer plants, it also allowed Toyota to experiment with new manufacturing ideas and production methods.
Set on a small peninsula on the Mikawa Bay, the factory was designed to be “worker friendly” to attract a new generation of workers who had viewed factory work as dirty, arduous and dangerous.
“It’s one of the most beautiful plants, and very neat and tidy,” said Credit Suisse First Boston analyst Koji Endo in Tokyo. The setting is lovely, too, with fishing on the quays outside.
Built in 1979, “Tahara was actually considered a mistake because it was much too automated,” said auto analyst Maryann Keller of Maryann Keller and Associates in Greenwich, Conn. In terms of costs, “it was not a competitive factory when they built it.”
The sprawling plant is air-conditioned. Computer-controlled robots do the heavy lifting and dirty work. More than 95 percent of the stamping, welding and painting operations are automated, while plant workers focus on the trim and final assembly — the details a customer notices.
Today, Tahara produces 460,000 vehicles a year in its two body shops and three assembly plants. In addition to Lexus exports, the plant complex assembles Toyota’s domestic luxury car, the Crown, the RAV4 sport-utility vehicle and three other models.
Rival luxury automakers may murmur that Lexus cars are merely “souped-up Toyotas” because the two brands share a wide array of parts. But suppliers to Toyota know better.
Tahara sets and demands the highest standards.
Toyota, already a stickler for quality, will not accept components if defects exceed 50 per million parts shipped. In contrast, for Lexus vehicles, Tahara managers insist on fewer than 10 defects per million parts.
From the outset, former plant manager Kousuke Shiramizu, now executive vice president in charge of product and product engineering, established that the margin for error for Lexus vehicles would be half what it was at Toyota.
On average at Toyota, air leaks from car exhaust systems are held to 100 liters per minute, to reduce noise. On Lexus models produced at the Tahara plant, the ceiling is a stingy 8.6 liters of air per minute.
The plant’s strict quality checks include a final stretch of inspections for cars coming off the line under the unforgiving glare of very bright lights.
Toyota also tinkered with changes in the assembly line organization at Tahara, establishing several sub-assembly lines so temporary stoppages would not halt all production.
“Tahara’s the next plateau,” said consultant Dennis Pawley, former manufacturing chief at Chrysler. “Rather than having one continuous line, they’re going against the old adage and breaking up the line.”
Living up to Tahara’s standards keeps everyone at Toyota plants around the world on their toes.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/sho...highlight=news
10-22-04, 06:58 PM
#21
Guest
Posts: n/a
Last edited by LexFather; 10-22-04 at 06:58 PM.
11-12-04, 08:40 AM
#23
Guest
Posts: n/a
Originally posted by Lance Ross
Thought I should announce to you guys.
That the RX330 just been announced by our top motoring organisations that the RX330 has for the 2nd year running won the best luxury 4wd award in Australia.
This is a great achievement seeing it is up against BMW, Mercedes, Honda mdx
Great news for Lexus again
Lance Ross
Thought I should announce to you guys.
That the RX330 just been announced by our top motoring organisations that the RX330 has for the 2nd year running won the best luxury 4wd award in Australia.
This is a great achievement seeing it is up against BMW, Mercedes, Honda mdx
Great news for Lexus again
Lance Ross
11-13-04, 08:50 AM
#24
Guest
Posts: n/a
The RX400h will be ready for sale in April, 2005!!!
Originally posted by rl9905
I went to the California international Auto Show and they said that the RX400h will be available April of 2005. If you want the RX you have to put a deposit and it's $1000 now, it's refundable. No wood trim will be offered only the brushed-aluminum is available. I believe a long long time ago someone posted that there might be Smart Access Key Entry, well no there isnt' going to be Smart Access Key Entry, only on the 2006 GS.
I got the brochure for the RX400h at the Auto Show and here is the spec for it....
I went to the California international Auto Show and they said that the RX400h will be available April of 2005. If you want the RX you have to put a deposit and it's $1000 now, it's refundable. No wood trim will be offered only the brushed-aluminum is available. I believe a long long time ago someone posted that there might be Smart Access Key Entry, well no there isnt' going to be Smart Access Key Entry, only on the 2006 GS.
I got the brochure for the RX400h at the Auto Show and here is the spec for it....
11-17-04, 09:04 AM
#25
Guest
Posts: n/a
Originally posted by Lexusfreak
November 17, 2004
2005 Lexus GX 470 gets more power
Toronto - Introduced to the Canadian market less than a year ago, the Lexus GX 470 luxury SUV has received a power increase thanks to significant enhancements to its V8 that augment both the GX 470's all-terrain capability and its on-road performance.
Click image to enlarge
New Variable Valve Timing-intelligent (VVT-i) technology optimizes valve overlap throughout the engine's speed range to boost torque and improve fuel economy while reducing exhaust emissions. A two-stage Acoustic Control Induction System (ACIS) improves engine performance in all speed ranges by tuning the intake manifold length according to engine operating conditions. A higher compression ratio further improves combustion. The result is that the 4.7-litre engine now produces 275 horsepower (up from 235 hp) and 330 lb/ft of torque (an increase of 10 lb/ft). The engine also meets Low Emissions Vehicle (LEV) standards.
The new, more powerful 2005 GX 470 has a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price of $67,700. Models equipped with the Ultra Premium package have an MSRP of $74,000 (prices are in Canadian dollars).
November 17, 2004
2005 Lexus GX 470 gets more power
Toronto - Introduced to the Canadian market less than a year ago, the Lexus GX 470 luxury SUV has received a power increase thanks to significant enhancements to its V8 that augment both the GX 470's all-terrain capability and its on-road performance.
Click image to enlarge
New Variable Valve Timing-intelligent (VVT-i) technology optimizes valve overlap throughout the engine's speed range to boost torque and improve fuel economy while reducing exhaust emissions. A two-stage Acoustic Control Induction System (ACIS) improves engine performance in all speed ranges by tuning the intake manifold length according to engine operating conditions. A higher compression ratio further improves combustion. The result is that the 4.7-litre engine now produces 275 horsepower (up from 235 hp) and 330 lb/ft of torque (an increase of 10 lb/ft). The engine also meets Low Emissions Vehicle (LEV) standards.
The new, more powerful 2005 GX 470 has a Manufacturer's Suggested Retail Price of $67,700. Models equipped with the Ultra Premium package have an MSRP of $74,000 (prices are in Canadian dollars).
Thread
Thread Starter
Forum
Replies
Last Post
eyeball
IS - 3rd Gen (2014-present)
49
12-07-13 10:29 PM
