The IS F is the first in a new series of muscle cars planned under the Lexus line christened “F,” created to broaden the brand.
“Lexus has long been renowned as a luxury, high-quality brand,” said Executive Vice President Akio Toyoda, responsible for Toyota’s domestic operations.
“But to be recognized as a true global premium brand, we knew we needed more emotional vehicles,” Toyoda, grandson of company founder Kiichiro Toyoda, said at the car’s unveiling at Fuji Speedway, the automaker’s racing circuit near Mount Fuji.
Eager to show off the car’s new five-liter, 423-horsepower V8 engine and eight-speed automatic transmission—the world’s first to allow manual-style gear changes—Toyota invited reporters to test-ride the IS F.
Professional drivers whirled their passengers around the Fuji Speedway circuit, venue of the Formula 1 Japan Grand Prix last weekend, at speeds up to 240 kph (150 mph).
Lexus is the top-selling luxury brand in the United States, but it occupies a niche in Europe, where competition is fiercest. The 18-year-old brand debuted in Japan in August 2005, and Toyota said it would take “at least a decade” for it to gain the kind of status that Mercedes and BMW enjoy in Japan.
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