Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of the Japanese automaker Toyota. The Lexus brand is marketed in more than 70 countries and territories worldwide and is Japan's largest-selling make of premium cars. It has ranked among the 10 largest Japanese global brands in market value. Lexus is headquartered in Nagoya, Japan. Operational centers are located in Brussels, Belgium, and Plano, Texas, United States.
The Toyota Supra is a sports car and grand tourer manufactured by Toyota Motor Corporation beginning in 1978. The initial four generations of the Supra were produced from 1978 to 2002. The fifth generation has been produced since March 2019 and went on sale in May 2019. The styling of the original Supra was derived from the Toyota Celica, but it was both longer and wider. Starting in mid-1986, the A70 Supra became a separate model from the Celica. In turn, Toyota also stopped using the prefix Celica and named the car Supra. Owing to the similarity and past of the Celica's name, it is frequently mistaken for the Supra, and vice versa. The first, second and third generations of the Supra were assembled at the Tahara plant in Tahara, Aichi, while the fourth generation was assembled at the Motomachi plant in Toyota City. The fifth generation of the Supra is assembled alongside the G29 BMW Z4 in Graz, Austria by Magna Steyr.
The Lexus SC is a grand tourer that was retailed by Lexus, and built from 1991 through 2010. It features a front engine, rear-wheel drive design and seating for up to four passengers. The first-generation SC debuted as the V8-powered (1UZ-FE) SC 400 in 1991, and the I6-powered SC 300 was added in 1992. Both first-generation models were produced until 2000. The second-generation model, the SC 430, went into production in 2001. The SC 430 features a hardtop convertible design and a V8 engine. The first-generation SC was largely styled in California at Calty, and the second-generation SC was mainly conceived at design studios in Europe.
The AE86 series of the Toyota Corolla Levin and Toyota Sprinter Trueno are small, front-engine/rear-drive models within the fifth generation Corolla range — marketed by Toyota from 1983 to 1987 in coupe and hatchback configurations.
The Toyota MR2 is a two-seat, mid-engined, rear-wheel-drive sports car manufactured in Japan and marketed globally by Toyota from 1984 to 2007 over three generations: W10 (1984–1989), W20 (1990–1999) and W30 (2000–2007). It is Japan's first mid-engined production car.
The Lexus GS is an executive car sold by Lexus, the premium division of Toyota. The same car had been launched in 1991 as the Toyota Aristo in Japan, while the Lexus-badged model did not appear until 1993. Now in its fourth generation, the GS was sold only with the Toyota Aristo name in Japan until the release of the third generation model in 2005.
The Lexus IS is a compact executive car sold by Lexus since 1999. The IS was originally sold under the Toyota Altezza nameplate in Japan from 1998. The IS was introduced as an entry-level sport model positioned below the ES in the Lexus lineup.
The Toyota Soarer is a personal luxury GT coupé produced from 1981 to 2005 by Toyota and sold in Japan. It was available at both Japanese Toyota dealerships called Toyota Store and Toyopet Store, and it debuted with the Z10 series, replacing the Toyopet Store exclusive Mark II coupé, and the Toyota Store exclusive Crown coupé.
Toyota Racing Development is the in-house tuning shop for all Toyota, Lexus and formerly Scion cars. TRD is responsible both for improving street cars for more performance and supporting Toyota's racing interests around the world. TRD produces various tuning products and accessories, including performance suspension components, superchargers, and wheels. TRD parts are available through Toyota dealers, and are also available as accessories on brand-new Toyotas and Scions. Performance parts for Lexus vehicles are now labeled as F-Sport and performance Lexus models are labeled F to distinguish Lexus's F division from TRD.
Toyota Gazoo Racing Europe GmbH (TGR-E), formerly Andersson Motorsport GmbH and Toyota Motorsport GmbH (TMG), is a fully-owned and controlled entity of Toyota Motor Corporation, based in Cologne, Germany, which provides motorsport and automotive services to fellow Toyota companies and to outside clients, employing around 350 people in a 30,000 m2 factory.
TOM'S Co., Ltd is a factory supported racing team and tuner of Toyota and Lexus vehicles. The name stands for Tachi Oiwa Motor Sport. Their head office is located in Tokyo, Japan. They are currently heavily involved with Super GT, Super Formula and Japanese Formula 3. TOM'S creates aftermarket parts for current Toyota vehicles, and have also created their own special edition of certain current Lexus models.
Altezza lights are vehicle tail lamp clusters consisting of one or more internal lamp units, covered with a clear acrylic cover. This style of taillight was made popular by Lexus and has been stock equipment on Toyota Altezza and Lexus IS300 models since 1998. Some Altezza lights also use LED lighting.
SARD Corporation is a Japanese tuning company and racing team from Toyota, Aichi, mainly competing in the Super GT series and specialising in Toyota tuning parts.
MillenWorks, known as Rod Millen Motorsports until 2005, was an American automotive technology company started by Rod Millen in 1980. The company began by preparing Millen's rally cars, and evolved into designing and building them. The company developed vehicles, high performance auto parts, and technology for racing, concept cars, and the US military.
During its history the Toyota Supra has enjoyed considerable success in a variety of different motorsports.
Yukihiko Yaguchi is a Japanese automotive engineer and designer responsible for the design of the first generation Lexus IS F. Born in 1955, he has over 30 years of experience in car design, having worked as head of development and planning for Lexus, where he holds the title of chief engineer. His involvement with Lexus and Toyota is likely how the sc300 received the renowned inline-6 2JZ from the Mark IV Toyota Supra in a naturally aspirated format. Yaguchi previously worked on the development of the Toyota Chaser and all generations of the Toyota Supra.
Since its introduction to motorsport in the early 1970s, Toyota has been involved in a number of motorsport activities, most notably in Formula One, NASCAR, IndyCar, sports car racing, various off road rallies and the WRC. Currently, Toyota participates in the Toyota Racing Series, Super Formula, Formula Three, NHRA, USAC, Super GT, NASCAR, the WRC and the WEC.
Haruhiko Tanahashi is a Japanese automotive engineer who is responsible for the design and construction of the Lexus LFA supercar. Tanahashi joined Toyota Motor Corporation in 1978 as a chassis engineer, and has since worked in new vehicle design for over 30 years. The LFA development program, begun as project 680, comprised over a decade of his career until the debut of the vehicle in 2009. Tanahashi holds eight automotive design patents, previously worked on earlier models including the Toyota Crown, Soarer and Aristo, and has been part of various Toyota and Lexus development divisions.
Hiromu Naruse was the Japanese chief test driver, chief test engineer of Toyota Motor Corporation and chief of the Gazoo Racing team. Naruse had been a test driver for the Toyota team for 47 years (1963–2010). He was also noted as the chief test driver of the Lexus LFA supercar. During his time at Toyota, Naruse became known by the nickname "Meister", and colleagues at Ferrari called him the "man who knows all the world’s roads." Naruse also logged more hours at the Nürburgring test track in Germany than any other Japanese driver.
The Lexus IS (XE20) is the second generation of the Lexus IS line of compact executive cars. Sold by Lexus since 2005, the line includes multiple V6 gasoline-powered models, in four-door sedan and two-door coupé convertible body styles. Additional sedan models also feature inline-four diesel powertrains, and an F marque version, the IS F, features a V8 engine. A pre-production car of the second generation IS model was first shown at the 2005 Geneva Auto Show, with the production version debuting at the 2005 New York Auto Show. The second generation was only available as a sedan until the two-door coupé convertible variants debuted in 2008.
