Lexus is the luxury vehicle division of Toyota and was founded by Eiji Toyoda in 1989. To maintain the highest standard across the entire range each Lexus must meet up to 500 specific product standards known as the 'Lexus musts'. The name Lexus is derived from a combination of words; the Latin 'luxus' and French 'luxe' that both mean elegance, along with the Greek word 'lexicon' meaning language and words. The Lexus logo uses a stylised L, that differs from the font use in the brand name, within an oval. Lexus say the logo needed to have smooth curves to capture the 'rounded aerodynamic quality of Lexus vehicles'.
Lexus offer a compact hatchback, saloon, coupe and SUV, all have a hybrid version apart from the Lexus F, these models are race tuned high performance luxury vehicles. Each model is identified by letters, all carry a meaning specific to that vehicle. For example RX stands for Radiant Crossover, IS stands for Intelligent Sports and CT stands for Creative Touring.
