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We will have a grand prize drawing for a (1) night stay for two at the Ritz Carlton, Grande Lakes Resort, Orlando! If you have received an invitation and have not yet RSVP’d please call 888.249.9888 or email customerrelations@lexusoforlando.com. 
This event is for those who have purchased vehicles from November 01, 2011 through January 31, 2012.
Courtesy of ToyotaPressroom Today, Lexus is among a small group of brands to unveil a new Facebook® Page (www.Facebook.com/Lexus) that optimizes the new features by telling the brand’s story through a highly visual and organized timeline while still allowing Lexus enthusiasts to dialogue and interact with the brand. The launch coincides with the brand reaching one million fans on the social networking site this week. To gather stories for the new Page, the Lexus team talked to automotive historians, met with Lexus archivists and spent hours at the Toyota USA Automobile Museum reviewing old film, photos and artifacts. The launch cover photo features Lexus’ futuristic new 2+2 coupe LF-LC concept vehicle, while the timeline exemplifies the brand’s evolution and pursuit of perfection during the last 23 years. More than 80 stories have been added to the Page dating back to before the brand’s launch in 1989. All major vehicle launches, redesigns and concept cars – from the original Lexus LS 400 to the all-new 2013 Lexus GS – have been added to the timeline. Additionally, Lexus added backdated posts to include pre-Facebook updates like the one millionth Lexus sold in the U.S. in Nov.1999. “Researching the information for our new Facebook Page became a very personal and introspective process for the team,” said Brian Smith, Lexus vice president of marketing. “It was fascinating to look back at our rich history and see the many ideas and innovations that have come from Lexus. We are proud to be one of the first brands invited to explore Facebook’s new platform, and we hope our fans enjoy the new experience.” Lexus’ new Facebook Page will also showcase “Lexus World Firsts” that tout the brand’s contributions to the automotive industry including the world’s first Mark Levinson automotive sound system and the world's first advanced parking guidance system in a luxury vehicle. Other key milestones are: 
For a weekend in January, I became an official member of Joe Bacal’s JTGrey racing team, who are entering the 2012 SCORE off-road season with a brand new LX 570 race truck. The following is the second part of a three part series detailing my experience.
Saturday
The subdued mood continues through to Saturday morning, with the entire team resigned to the possibility that the LX may not make it a single time around the track.
Even with the uncertainty, Bryan is upbeat and excited to be sitting in the passenger seat, and pretty soon his enthusiasm has spread, with Joe promising him at least one good jump regardless of any electrical gremlins.
Leaving everyone to make the final preparations, I head out onto the track in my orange Media vest with hopes of getting two or three photos before the LX quits. However, I soon realize this is not an easy task — although the course is a loop, the track runs like a scribble in the mud, and it’s virtually impossible to see the entire race from any one vantage point. No matter what position I chose, I’ll only be able to see the LX for thirty seconds at a time.
Soon enough, Joe & Bryan reach the start line, and the green flag waves them through the gate:
From there, the LX starts down the straight, disappears over the first hill and leaves me wondering if I would see the truck again before the race’s eighty minute time limit is reached.
To pass the time, I busy myself by taking photos of the other trucks:
On average, it should take Joe no more than nine and a half minutes to make it around the track, so eleven minutes into the first lap, it’s easy to imagine a worst-case scenario — but soon enough, I spot the LX right before this jump that launches it into the air:
Despite all our earlier worrying, the LX appears to be running like a champ, and soon a pattern emerges — every nine minutes, Joe, Bryan and the LX hit my area of the track and I snap photos until they disappear again:
Forty-nine minutes later, Joe & Brian take second place in the Stock Full class:
Once he’s settled back at the tent after the race, Joe gives me the full story, explaining that the LX went into limp mode ten times during the five laps, including two times when they were just about to pass the leader and take first place.
Bryan feels the same way. “At first, I was just excited to be there and have the opportunity to be in the truck,” he explains to me, “but when things started going and we were actually competing, that was something else. When we missed the leader at the end and finished second, I really was disappointed because we were so close.”
That night at dinner, Joe asks me how I’m feeling about the race tomorrow morning. I let him know that I’m little nervous, and that even after talking with Bryan about his experience, I still don’t know exactly what to expect.
In response, Joe pulls out his iPhone and shows me this video of a crash that happened earlier that day between two Trophy Trucks:
“Things can go really bad, you know,” he tells me, his face halfway between serious and teasing.
Check back tomorrow for the final part of my weekend with Joe & the JTGrey Racing Team!
Courtesy of LexusEnthusiast
Not one to just take the LFA out for a lazy drive, Wurz makes proper use of all 552 horsepower and 9,000 rpm running the Estoril Circuit in Portugal. After a few laps of pushing the supercar around the track, Wurz heaps praise on the LFA for its super-aggressive looks, neutral handling, and the sound of the downshifts from the V10.
If you want to see a video of the Lexus LFA being driven the way it was intended, then hit the jump and turn up your speakers.
Courtesy of AutoBlog
[[posterous-content:pid___0]]For a weekend in January, I became an official member of Joe Bacal’s JTGrey racing team, who are entering the 2012 SCORE off-road season with a brand new LX 570 race truck. The following is the first part of a three part series detailing my experience.
Friday
After a day spent flying across the country and a night driving through the Mojave desert, I wake up at the River Palms hotel in Laughlin, Nevada, where I’ve joined Joe Bacal and his JTGrey Racing team for the Laughlin Desert Challenge — the very first event of the new SCORE off-road season and the debut of Joe’s new LX 570 race truck.
I’m scheduled to race on Sunday, and in preparation, I’ve arranged to head over to the track to get myself acclimatized. Down in the hotel lobby, I meet up with Joe’s wife Teresa, their son Greyson, and Bryan Stordahl, who will be Joe’s co-driver on Saturday.
Today is the final opportunity for testing & tweaking before the weekend’s races, and when we reach the track, Joe has just completed his first trial run.
Finished just two days earlier, the new LX is running well but is essentially untested, and there’s some teething issues as a result — during the first practice run, the transmission stays in automatic mode, instead of the sequential manual mode that allows Joe to control his gear shifting.
Not being in control of the transmission is one thing, but on Joe’s second practice run, the LX enters Limp Mode, which throws the SUV’s giant 5.7L V8 engine into a four-cylinder safety setting and limits the speed to around 10 mph. Restarting the engine resets the ECU and fixes the issue temporarily, but Limp mode soon returns. “We eliminated so many sensors and wires trying to clean up the system from our first-gen LX,” Joe tells me, “and I’ve had zero test time in the SUV until today. We simply ran out of time.”
Making matters worse, the Laughlin Desert Challenge has now been divided into two separate races instead of a single race stretched out over two days. This means the weekend is worth double the points in the overall standings — not being able to race would be disastrous for Joe’s season.
To avoid getting in the way, Bryan and I head out for lunch, leaving Joe and Lexus engineer Brian Reilly to work on the LX. Over at In-N-Out burgers, I learn Bryan’s story — how he met Joe while both were being treated for cancer, how he suffers from an extremely rare form of the disease and remains in treatment, and most importantly, just how excited he is to have a chance to race with Joe. At this point, the race takes on a deeper significance, so we turn to positive thoughts and a belief that things will work out in the end.
When the team meets for dinner, there is some good news. Engineer Brian believes that stretched wiring to the ECU is the culprit behind the LX electrical problems — unfortunately, there’s no way to fix the issue before tomorrow’s race.
At this point, we all do our best to ignore the dark cloud hanging over the table, and take to hoping for an early morning miracle.
Courtesy of LexusEnthusiast
This much was evident at California’s Auto Club Speedway two weekends ago, where more than a hundred Lexus fans volunteered to test-drive the 2013 GS on three different courses.
On one course, drivers competed against each other in a timed autocross, where, after zipping through a tightly curved circuit, each driver’s time popped up on a scoreboard (fans with the best times earned a speed lap in the LFA on another nearby course):
After the first 10 course runs, it started to dawn on event organizers that the average Lexus fan takes performance driving pretty seriously—and knows a thing or two about acceleration.
On another course, fans were asked to chase pro drivers at higher speeds—let’s just say they had no problem keeping up.
By the way, the 2013 GS is now in dealerships, so you can test-drive one yourself—your dealer won’t keep score, but it’ll still be a thrill ride.
Courtesy of LexusMagazine
Yes, like many cities, especially in Florida, the epicenter of the economic earthquake, Orlando is trying to rally. When disposable dollars dried up and tourism took a hit, well, just imagine the Magic without Dwight Howard. (You might hear about Dwight oh, once or a million times this weekend.) The double whammy of real estate woes and squeezed family budgets threaten to cripple the world's greatest tourist destination.
Suddenly, the city that loved to slap an exclamation point next to its name -- come visit Orlando! -- was stuck with a question mark instead. As in, when does relief arrive?
One basketball-fueled weekend won't exactly tip the Central Florida economy into the black all by itself. Still, the goal for Orlando is to be that same city that hosted the 1992 All-Star Game, the one where Magic! (Johnson) happened. To that end, Orlando will trot out the Amway Center, a $480 million symbol of hope that was built smack in the middle of hard times. Orlando doesn't get the game without it, doesn't sell its recovery to a big audience without it and doesn't reinvent itself without it.
"Part of the context of building this building was attracting the NBA All-Star game and other events," said Alex Martins, chief executive officer of the Magic. "We said a new building wasn't just about the Magic. It was about our city and what we were missing. All the big concerts were going to Tampa. We haven't had a conference college basketball tourney since the early 1990s. No major organizing sports body has brought anything to us since early 90s."
And just think, a few months ago, the NBA season and the weekend itself were in jeopardy of not happening, phased out by a lockout. The game was promised to Orlando on May 4, 2010, and hotels and businesses were banking on the windfall.
"That would have been a blow to our city," Martins said. "I told David Stern he'd better put me in witness protection if that happens."
So the city that knows something about entertaining will happily host a slam dunk contest that may or may not involve an economy car, a handful of hip-hop parties to which you're not invited, and the debut of the ballyhooed box office attraction that promises to dwarf both Space Mountain and the Harry Potter Hogwarts ride. Yes, Jeremy Lin is in the house!
"Everyone will see that Orlando's not bad, and will put on a show," said Howard, who then refused to say if he plans to stick around for the after-party.
Back in '92, Orlando was exactly the type of city that professional sports craved that decade. It was a medium-sized 'burgh suddenly flush with new money and enjoying a population boom, where people quickly began to multiply faster than Palmetto bugs and strip malls.
The NBA expanded to Orlando three years earlier and success was instantaneous; sellout crowds crammed a then-brand new arena (the Orlando Arena, later known as Amway Arena) that astonishingly became outdated in about 15 minutes.
Not only was Orlando defined as Las Vegas for children, but also professional athletes, who built airplane hanger-sized mansions in lake-dotted communities like Isleworth, home to Tiger Woods, Shaquille O'Neal and many others.
In a sense, Orlando's growth and popularity arc was a lot like the NBA's in the 80s, when prosperity ruled and troublesome signs weren't visible on the radar. The NBA had Larry Bird, Magic Johnson and Michael Jordan; Orlando had Mickey, Goofy and, in a few years, Shaq and Penny Hardaway. Theme parks were swelling, orange groves were cleared for housing developments -- it was as if Orlando had cashed in on the lottery, like the Magic did when a pair of ping-pong balls turned into Shaq and Penny.
Golf courses sprung up everywhere, further hiking real estate prices ever so unrealistically, as well-moneyed northerners snapped up second homes and timeshares. And they also bought choice seats at Magic games to see a team that was supposedly the next dynasty. Or as Shaq once said, regarding he and Hardaway, "the next Magic and Kareem."
But then Shaq left for Hollywood in 1996 as a free agent, Penny hurt his knee (several times), Grant Hill arrived as damaged goods in 2000 from Detroit as a free agent. Even though another ping-pong ball became Howard, the No. 1 pick in the 2004 Draft, he's not sold on spending his foreseeable career in Orlando.
And this was the good news.
"Central Florida was one of the hardest hit in terms of housing," said Orlando Mayor Buddy Dyer. "Home building is pretty much non-existent right now. We had an extreme correction in terms of market price and number of foreclosures.
"Tourism was down double digits. We had three straight years of double-digit decline in our tourist development tax. People postponed or didn't do vacations. It was a significant decline in our tourism economy. We came back strong in the last year, with 51 million visitors. But it's going to be a slow, steady recovery. We had a presentation by our convention and visitors bureau the other day and they mentioned it would be impossible to purchase the type of advertising and exposure that we'll get from the All-Star Game."
At least Orlando's timing was solid, in another sense. All the bonds and financials were secured for the construction of Amway Center (along with a new performing arts building) just prior to the economic uppercut. Amway Center, not to be confused with the soon-to-be-bulldozed Amway Arena, was the town's boldest project in recent history. In a spirit of cooperation that's uncommon in cities, especially in the midst of historic decline, city, county and team officials made it work. The public-private partnership ensured the arena was finished on time and on budget.
"It was certainly challenging but also some advantages as well," Martins said. "We were able to stretch the construction budget further than we could've imagined because the construction industry had nothing else going on. As many disadvantages as one could perceive when building in a down economy, the workforce was available, material pricing was low and we had no major delays.
"We walked into the building with all the suites sold, had highest corporate partnership in the history of the organization and the highest season ticket base in the history of the organization. And I think that speaks to how starving our community was for a first class building."
As for the impact of the weekend, "it will be $100 million. The theme parks will get a shot in the arm at a time of the year when they don't get their highest visitation. This comes at a necessary time."
One of the main figures in the construction of the building -- and the Magic -- is slowly withdrawing from both. Rich DeVos, the grandfatherly Magic owner, has gradually distributed much of his shares of the team to his children and even grandchildren, mostly for estate-planning purposes. At 85, Devos has the team run by Martins (who was the Magic's PR director during the '92 All-Star Game) and Dan DeVos, one of his sons.
"This team will be in our family for a long, long, time," said Rich DeVos.
The family patriarch mostly gets around by wheelchair these days and there's a groundswell of support within the family and the organization to win one for Mr. D.
"The pleasure he gets out of owning this team and what it does for this city has brought a dynamic to his life that maybe he didn't have before," Martins said. "If it weren't for him this arena wouldn't be built. He contributed more of his own money to this building than any owner has to a public facility. This will be part of his legacy. It's going to mean a lot for the economy when big events come here on a regular basis."
DeVos is both amused and touched by the sentiment, but he makes one thing clear.
"I want to win a ring," he said, "but it's not for me, it's for them."
And so Orlando, ever so gingerly, is taking steps toward better days. For the city and for the Magic. The arena is the common link between the two and will remain in place, well beyond the weekend, when Orlando hopes to get tourists to arrive and the Magic hopes to keep Dwight Howard from leaving.
So enjoy the weekend in Orlando! Where the city is out to prove it's on the turnpike to recovery! Oh, and spread the word, now is the perfect time to visit! Because Orlando has the most attractions in the world! Now featuring Jeremy Lin! (For a day or so, anyway.)
Shaun Powell is a veteran NBA writer and columnist. You can e-mail him here and follow him on twitter.
The views on this page do not necessarily reflect the views of the NBA, its clubs or Turner Broadcasting.
Courtesy of TheNBA
Lexus of Orlando - (5) Star Review on DealerRater
Courtesy of Motortrend
Lexus of Orlando - Three Positive Reviews on DealerRater
His job is to identify, safeguard, and optimize the mix of emotions that create the uniquely human appeal of the new GS—and all Lexus vehicles.
The concept of stitching a sense of human feeling into the established Lexus tapestry of luxury and performance is a fascinating one. It starts with the recognition of a car’s ability to inspire human beings. For Ozaki, that inspiration comes from depth. Not the depth of paint, or the depth of a seat cushion, but the depth of human emotion.
“A car is an industrial product assembled from parts and technologies,” he says. “That structure gives it depth. Woven into a Lexus is an extra layer of hand craftsmanship, with each individual or team trying to craft parts—all of them masterpieces—that reflect the creator’s passion. Passion has depth. It has the ability to move people. My task is to add another layer of passion by evaluating and fine-tuning the entire vehicle—by feeling.”
This extra investment in emotion has been applied to the humblest of parts. Take the driver footrest. Rather than the usual flat surface, it’s shaped in a gradual curve. “It was clear to us that the curved form was the most natural human fit,” says Ozaki. “But finding the best curve was a very sensitive balance that even high-tech devices couldn’t measure. We had to use our own five senses.”
Also, consider the steering wheel. On the road, Ozaki’s attention to detail translates into a feeling that you’re always exactly the right distance away from the wheel, no matter how you hold it. There’s no feeling of being “hemmed in,” as Ozaki puts it.
These GS sensations are subtle—and that’s exactly how Ozaki likes it. He wants these emotional enhancements to be felt on a near-subliminal level.
“If someone says ‘wow, look what’s been achieved,’ I see that as a problem,” he explains with a smile. “When the driver grips the steering wheel made with these great materials—premium leather, wood, or bamboo—the comfortable feeling should flow up from the hands and into the mind. That should give rise to a sense of satisfaction and excitement, and a heightened sense of confidence in having made the right buying choice. All that should happen without the driver noticing.”
Courtesy of LexusDriversMagazine
Lexus of Orlando - (5) Star Review on GoogleMaps
Here’s a zoom of just the facts:
As you can see, the GS scored first in every test — through the autocross, the 0-60 mph acceleration, 1/4 mile times, and 60-0 mph braking, the GS was able to top both the E350 Sport and 535i. Makes for some pretty impressive results.
(Of course, with this being a Lexus paid advertisement, it would be easy to write off the test as pre-determined & bias — however, all data was collected over multiple laps using VBOX technology, and Automobile & Motor Trend published videos explaining how every test was performed. Instead of a marketing conspiracy, it just goes to show how confident Lexus is in the GS and its performance credentials.)
Courtesy of LexusEnthusiast
Courtesy of LexusUSANewsroom What do you get when you cross a Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model with a hot new sports car? One cool app. Lexus and Sports Illustrated Swimsuit have fans revving their engines with the release of Lexus’ new TORI 500 racing app, available at Lexus.com/tori500 and iTunes. The app brings to life an actual racetrack the automaker created in the shape of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Tori Praver’s body. Players of the TORI 500 game get to see what it’s like to race the all-new 2013 Lexus GS sport sedan around a larger-than-life, 3-D image of the supermodel. The game is part of a multi-faceted print and online campaign supporting Lexus’ role as the Official Automotive Marketing Partner of SI Swimsuit and launch week. The Lexus team began by photographing Tori—being sure to capitalize on her curves—in poses that mimicked the angles and curvature of a true racetrack. The images of Praver were then photomapped and used to design the racetrack with the digitized version providing the game environment for the iOS application. From there, a live 1-to-1200 inch scale track was created and two of the world’s best professional drivers, racecar driver Scott Pruett and stunt driver Greg Tracy, competed to post the best time and win a victory lap with Tori. A behind-the-scenes video of both the photo shoot and the race is available at Lexus.com/tori500. Additional elements of Lexus’ SI Swimsuit partnership include: 
| Segment | Ranking | Model | Problems/100 |
| Sub-Compact Car | 1 | Toyota Yaris | 97 |
| 2 | Scion xD | 113 | |
| Compact Car | 1 | Toyota Prius | 80 |
| 2 | Toyota Corolla | 93 | |
| Compact Crossover SUV | 3 | Toyota RAV4 | 121 |
| Compact Multi-Purpose Vehicle | 1 | Scion xB | 100 |
| Compact Sporty Car | 1 | Scion tC | 123 |
| Entry Premium Car | 1 | Lexus ES350 | 81 |
| Midsize Car | 3 | Toyota Camry | 105 |
| Midsize Crossover SUV | 3 | Toyota Highlander | 111 |
| Midsize Van | 1 | Toyota Sienna | 123 |
| Midsize Premium Crossover SUV | 1 | Lexus RX350 | 85 |
| Large Premium Car* | 1 | Lexus LS460 | 72 |
| Large Car | 2 | Toyota Avalon | 100 |
| Large Pick Up | 1 | Toyota Tundra | 108 |
| Lexus Nameplate | 1 | 86 | |
| Toyota Nameplate | 3 (tie) | 104 | |
| Scion | 5 | 111 | |
| Premium Brands Industry Average | 129 | ||
| Non-Premium Brands Industry Average | 144 | ||
Additional examples of Toyota’s commitment to the highest standards for quality, safety, reliability and retained value include:
The Official Automotive Marketing Partner for SI Swimsuit Launch Week,
Lexus and the All-New GS Take on a Real Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Supermodel’s Curves in Its TORI 500 Campaign
[[posterous-content:pid___0]]As the Official Automotive Marketing partner of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit property, Lexus has created a multi-faceted campaign called TORI 500, showcasing an actual racetrack the automaker created in the shape of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Tori Praver’s body.
NEW YORK (Feb. 13, 2012) — The winning designers of the 2nd annual Council of Fashion Designers of America (CFDA)/Lexus Eco-Fashion Challenge unveiled their sustainable clothing and accessory collections on Feb. 9 at MADE at Milk Studios as part of New York Fashion Week. The show was attended by fashion editors and buyers who viewed eco-friendly designs from this year’s three competition winners: Marcia Patmos of New York, John Bartlett of New York and Johnson Hartig from Los Angeles.
Each winning designer developed a clothing or accessory line demonstrating a commitment to ecologically responsible design. A minimum 25 percent of the collection had to be produced in an environmentally friendly manner. Many of the competition proposals included components such as recycled plastic, reclaimed wood, minimal packaging, and non-chemically treated fabrics. Winner Marcia Patmos incorporated multiple sustainable ideas into her designs, including zero-waste technology in her garment production, sourcing vegetable-tanned leather, and using animal-friendly faux fur. Designer John Bartlett’s “Future-Rustic” collection was fabricated almost entirely in cruelty free, animal-free materials such as plant-based fabrics, organic cottons, and recycled synthetic materials, while winner Johnson Hartig, co-designer of the Libertine clothing line, also showed his eco-friendly fashions. “Seeing the winning collections come to life on the runway is truly a thrill for us at Lexus,” stated Brian Smith, vice president of marketing for Lexus. “By partnering with the CFDA to create the Eco-Fashion Challenge, Lexus is encouraging sustainable lifestyles that don’t sacrifice style or luxury. We’re proud to support these industry thought-leaders as they share our passion for accelerating change in their respective field.” The three winners each received $25,000 to support development of their collections. The proposals were selected by a panel of judges including Simon Collins (Parsons the New School For Design), Zanna Roberts Rossi (Marie Claire), Scott Hahn (Rogan/Loomstate), Julie Gilhart (consultant), Steven Kolb (CFDA) and Lisa Smilor (CFDA). Entries were selected based on design credibility, business acumen and eco-commitment, with attention focused on eco-fabrics, materials, processes and packaging.
From Designer Marcia Patmos' collection
Article and images courtesy of Lexus USA Newsroom.
b. Exchange gifts and cards
c. Eat candy
I had a chance to test out a DHS-equipped GS F Sport on the track last November, and the difference was significant — turn-in response was noticeably sharper, and the rear of the vehicle had considerably more grip. In fact, the DHS made me feel so confident, that my run in the GS F Sport was the only time I hit a cone all day.
Courtesy of LexusEnthusiast
[[posterous-content:pid___0]]By Alex Taylor III, senior editor-at-large
Toyota president Akio Toyoda is also a certified test driver.
FORTUNE -- When the final tally was made for 2011, Toyota Motor (TM), formerly the world's largest automaker, slipped to third place in production behind General Motors (GM) and Volkswagen. It's not surprising: Toyota has endured a string of calamities over the past three years -- natural and man-made -- that would make even the company's famous paranoia seem like sunny optimism. The latest is endaka, the strong yen that causes everything that Toyota manufactures in Japan to be more expensive and undermines its profitability. A November issue of Automotive News predicted "more misery" for Toyota as "sales slip, floods delay, shoppers stray."
At the head of the company all this time has been a young president who was effectively born into the job and has little experience in crisis management: Akio Toyoda, the grandson of the company's founder. For a decade, while the automaker was being run by professional managers, Akio rose up the corporate ladder without making much of a mark. (For the sake of clarity, we'll use his first name, pronounced a-KEY-o, in this story.) Thrust into the presidency in 2009, he immediately had to cope with a global recession, massive recalls, and a deadly tsunami. Auto production plummeted, and at the same time Toyota lost its most important competitive advantage: its reputation for exceptional quality. Americans saw Akio apologizing before Congress and later tearing up in a YouTube video. U.S. market share tumbled. After reaching 18.3% at the end in 2009, it fell all the way to 12.9% for 2011. Emboldened by the recall crisis, competitors spread word that Toyota, once considered the unstoppable force of the automotive world, had been reduced to the status of also-ran.
But I had been hearing different things -- that Toyota had coped remarkably well with the tsunami, and that the recall crisis had served as a wake-up call for a company grown complacent. With a big boost from its new president, who took an intensely personal interest in its products, it was connecting with customers again.
The University of Michigan's Jeffrey Liker, a leading Toyota scholar, told me, "Akio has reenergized the company. He's promised to be the closest president ever to the gemba [where the real work is happening]."
Toyota's big product offensive
The Toyoda scion was traveling to the U.S. more frequently to fire up dealers and had taken charge personally of the sagging Lexus brand. Independent studies were beginning to show that Toyota cars were regaining their reputation for quality and value. With 19 new or redesigned models coming in calendar 2012 -- an exceptionally large number -- including a big expansion of the Prius hybrid line, the Toyota steamroller seemed ready to regain its old momentum.
One of Toyota's guiding principles in times of crisis is genchi genbutsu, or "go and see." So to find out for myself what the changes meant for a company I had been covering for more than 20 years, I interviewed Toyota executives in California and New York, and then flew to Japan.
Of all the woes Toyota has suffered, none has stung like the recall crisis of 2009-10. Ignited by reports of horrific accidents, some fatal, caused by cars that ran out of control and couldn't be braked to a stop, it eventually involved the recall more than 8 million Toyotas and Lexuses -- equivalent to a year's production. Independent investigations turned up no mechanical or electronic defects -- only some misplaced floor mats and sticky accelerator pedals to go along with driver error -- but exposed major flaws in the corporate culture. Toyota, it turned out, was still being managed the way it had been in the 1950s: Every decision was tightly controlled in Japan; the U.S. was treated like a vassal state. When American managers found defects in vehicles, they had to follow a tortuous bureaucratic process to register their complaints in Japan, where they were often met with skepticism and defensiveness. As it had long feared, Toyota had succumbed to "big-company disease."
Consumer confidence in its cars plummeted, and Toyota's higher-ups were shaken. "We learned we are not so ahead of competitors as we might have thought," Yoshimi Inaba, who heads sales and administration in the U.S., told me. "We were a little complacent." Toyota began to develop quicker reflexes. When a defect was identified in a Lexus SUV, Toyota organized a recall in just eight days. But it balked at delegating more executive authority to America. Rather than designate one person to head all of its North American operations, it maintained its traditional silo structure. Its giant sales operation in Southern California, and its equally large manufacturing complex headquartered in Kentucky, continued reporting to different executives in Japan.
2012 Lexus LFA: An ultra-exotic two-seater, the $375,000 sports car embodies Toyota's new, more aggressive attitude.
Just as it was trying to put the recall crisis behind it, the new management was tested again in March, when an earthquake and massive tidal wave disrupted production. The tsunami damaged plants in the north of Japan, disrupting the supply of over 500 parts, and Toyota couldn't find replacements. Its first-tier, just-in-time suppliers near Toyota City were not directly affected, but up north were second- and third-tier suppliers that Toyota did not know much about.
Akio assembled general managers of departments such as body engineering and powertrain in Japan, and took the unusual step of instructing them to restore production and not waste time reporting upward. They sent two-man teams of engineers to visit each supplier plant and to identify and locate backup parts until the suppliers were running again. By April, unavailable parts were down to 150, and by May, according to Liker's count, all but 30 of the 500 parts were available. Toyota solved the problems in half the time expected, but Liker figures the company still lost 800,000 production units -- 10% of its annual output. Plans to make up most of the shortfall through overtime work were pushed back by October floods in Thailand that affected about 100 suppliers. As a result, inventories in North America won't be completely replenished until March.
As I fidgeted through a 14-hour flight to Japan in a well-worn Boeing 777, I wondered what I would find. I figured Toyota had gotten some bad breaks, but I wondered about how committed this ponderous and bureaucratic company was to change.
After overnighting in Tokyo, I moved on to Nagoya, Japan's third-largest city -- one hour and 40 minutes away by Shinkansen bullet train -- where Toyota occupies several office buildings. I met with executive vice president Yukitoshi Funo, one of Akio's key advisers. Funo, who holds an MBA from Columbia and formerly oversaw U.S. sales, told me there had been an upheaval at Toyota. "[Akio] has dramatically changed the way the company is managed," he said through an interpreter. "There are two major pillars to how he manages: First, be fast; and second, be flexible. Usually Japanese companies are based on a 'bottom up' management style, which slows down the pace of decision-making. In looking at other companies, we realized the need for a certain level of 'top down' to move quickly."
Akio shrank the board of directors by half and took out layers of management. Funo revealed a more significant development: Akio has begun meeting informally with his five top advisers every Tuesday morning to review the company's operations. They work so closely together that Funo called it "pit work" management. No agendas or written reports are allowed, and decisions are made on the spot. "Basically, the six people have a very strong personal bond. So it's not a very emotional or heated debate as we have a very good understanding among each other." They can move quickly. After Akio visited Tesla Motors (TSLA) in California in 2010, the Tuesday morning meeting signed off on a $50 million investment in the electric-car maker. Subsequently Toyota agreed to buy $60 million worth of Tesla batteries to power its all-electric RAV 4 crossover.
Funo said Akio has made another fundamental change in the way Toyota is managed. Traditionally, Toyota has rotated its top executives, so a sales specialist could be assigned to purchasing, or a product engineer to manufacturing. Now they stay within their specialties so that they can leverage their experience. "It's very American," said Funo. "I'm not really sure how what he learned at Babson [the Boston college where Akio studied business] has affected how he is running the company. But he is not typical Japanese management." That turned out to be an understatement.
The next day I made the 40-minute car ride to Toyota City to meet with Takeshi Uchiyamada, Toyota's top engineer and another participant in the Tuesday morning meetings. In 1993, Uchiyamada accepted the challenge of Toyota's elders to develop a car with 50%-better fuel economy; today he's known as the father of the Prius. More than 3 million of the hybrids have been sold since 1997, and it has been expanded into a sub-brand with additional models.
Akio is pushing Toyota to make "always better cars," and Uchiyamada is the point man. For years enthusiasts have complained that Toyota treats cars like transportation appliances and allows companies such as Hyundai to seize design leadership. Uchiyamada says the critics were right. He told me: "Basically, Toyota's growth had been underpinned by QDR [quality, dependability, reliability] that was very high compared with competitors'. However, since the Lehman shock [in 2008], large-scale sales of Toyota vehicles have decelerated. Compared with past practices, we need to make products that are even more attractive. We have stepped up our efforts emphasizing design, high quality of the interiors."
Appearances count, but Uchiyamada has no intention of allowing Toyota to lose its green credentials either. This spring Toyota will launch the plug-in Prius, a $32,000 car that he believes is the best short-term solution to freeing the automobile from gasoline. Unlike conventional hybrids, the plug-in has a large battery that can power the car for up to 15 miles on electricity alone and be recharged at home. "I think the plug-in is the most practical technology of the future that will see great potential for mass dissemination. It can be recognized as an electric vehicle without having to worry about running out of battery. If the battery runs out, the car can be driven as a normal hybrid, so the amount of battery mounted in the vehicle can be minimized." I asked him how he compared the Prius to the much-publicized Chevrolet Volt, and he gave me a surprisingly candid answer. "The Volt has a longer driving range in EV mode, but for that they have greater battery volume. After the battery runs out, the Volt's power performance deteriorates when driven by a gasoline engine. So I believe the cost of the Volt will be higher than the Prius plug-in."
Akio Toyoda's Toyota timeline
When my interview with Uchimayada concluded, it was time for the meeting with Akio. It was to be held in a characteristically Japanese setting: a meeting hall in a private park near Toyota headquarters, where the company had reassembled the former residence of Kiichiro Toyoda, Akio's grandfather. Akio bounded into the interview room with the energy of a TV game show host, clearly more confident and relaxed than the man I had met 2½ years earlier, just after he had become president. Seated at a table across from me, he took questions in English and watched me intently while the interpreter translated his answers from Japanese.
Akio Toyoda at the Toyota Gazoo Racing Festival at the Fuji Speedway in Japan
Unlike his gray-suited, office-bound predecessors, Akio, 55, is more comfortable in a fire-resistant Nomex suit and crash helmet than he is in a coat and tie. A certified test driver, he evaluates as many as 200 Toyotas and competitive vehicles annually, and appears happiest when he's behind the wheel...
After speaking at a U.S. dealer meeting in Las Vegas last April, Akio unwound by driving an 850-horsepower NASCAR stock car at a nearby speedway. His passion, he says, has made it easy for him to settle into his job as president. He explained, "I was very glad to hear from my father [honorary chairman Soichiro Toyoda], 'I leave everything in your hands.' Of course, over the past two years the environment has seen dramatic change, but one thing I maintained, which I think protected me from these hardships, is that I love cars, and I kept saying to people constantly that we need to come up with always better cars. Whenever a new car is launched I have to drive it myself. So by trying out as many vehicles as possible, I think I can compare Toyota cars with comparable vehicles, and by driving directly I can understand the strategic direction of the company."
Much of his wheel time recently has been in a Lexus. Although it is intended to be a global brand, the Lexus has never caught on in Europe, and its aging designs were turning off U.S. buyers. Akio bypassed several layers of management to take direct responsibility for the brand and invested hours fine-tuning the ride and handling of the latest model, the 2013 GS. To give Lexus a sportier image, he also championed the development of the $375,000 LFA, a carbon fiber supercar, and personally tested the car on Germany's famed Nürburgring, where speeds top 180 mph.
"It has a limited production run of 500 units," he said of the LFA. "It seems to be a very secret sauce."
Does it make sense for the head of a company as large as Toyota to spend so much time evaluating its products and micromanaging small details? Well, it worked for Steve Jobs, and Akio believes it is an essential component of his leadership. "As you know, our cars are evaluated as good, not emotional," he said. "I think it's possible for Toyota to improve upon the emotion of cars. There are capable engineers who are about to do that. So what I think is needed is to really have a champion to encourage people to take action on that, to serve as a leader to address any problems after a challenge."
The smooth functioning of his Tuesday morning group makes it possible for Akio to spend more time with product development. "Actually I was very uncomfortable since I was a little boy with so-called yes-men who were just obedient to what I said. These five executive vice presidents who support me are experts in their respective areas, with experience of more than 40 years. I am the ultimate person in charge of this company, [but] I found it is very important to ask them for their views."
One topic on which advice is plentiful is how to deal with the strong yen, which has appreciated 35% since 2007 and is at a 65-year high. At 77 to the dollar, the currency cost Toyota $1 billion in profit during the quarter ended Sept. 30; Toyota needs an exchange rate of 80 yen to the dollar to remain profitable. It is working with its suppliers to reduce costs, but the currency imbalance threatens the future shape of the company. Already two-thirds of Toyota production comes from overseas, compared with half as recently as 2006. Akio has pledged to maintain a manufacturing base in Japan with a capacity of 3 million cars to protect parts makers and its skilled-labor supply, but Funo said that number "is not carved in stone" and that Toyota may shift more production to the U.S.
I had more questions to ask Akio, but my hourlong time slot had expired. He stayed around to shake hands and pose for pictures. Then he ducked into a black LFA and drove off, the sound of the exhaust growling in his wake.
Most of my concerns about Toyota had been addressed. No company is better at the nuts and bolts of the car business, but years of success had hardened some ill-advised practices that are now being discarded. Akio had personally taken on its most persistent shortcoming -- an inability to connect emotionally with customers through its products -- and he was making progress. Toyota does not make a practice of showing future models to outsiders, but I learned from dealers that the 2013 Avalon sedan, due next spring, will be something special in style and appeal. If subsequent models achieve a similar high standard, then Akio's mantra of "always better cars" may join the Toyota lexicon alongside genchi genbutsu.
This article is from the February 27, 2012 issue of Fortune.
