ROME (ITALPRESS) – Lexus has completed its move to a new headquarters in Shimoyama, a purpose-built state-of-the-art facility in a mountainous location near the city of Toyota in Japan. This milestone in Lexus’ history coincides with the 35th anniversary of the premium brand’s birth. For the first time, all Lexus activities (sales, marketing, planning and design) have been brought together under one roof, including research, development and design. This promises to promote even stronger and faster cooperation between the teams, enabling fast finalization of development prototypes and production models, including the next generation of Lexus cars. Development activities will be further supported by the adjacent Shimoyama test field, operational from 2021, which includes a high-speed track and a network of routes that replicate the different types of roads and surfaces found around the world. This has already proven invaluable in ensuring the Lexus Driving Signature: – comfort, safety and control for the driver at all times – in models including the new LBX, the next-generation NX and the all-electric RZ.Lexus is joined by Toyota gazoo Racing in the new Vehicle Development Building, built on the western side of the Shimoyama site. The ground floor houses a series of vehicle compartments designed to emulate the look and feel of the pits at the legendary Nùrburgring circuit in Germany, a place that has been used for the development and tuning of GR and various Lexus models. It is a place where members of all business functions can work together, evaluating vehicles on the test tracks and collaborating on testing and development to produce better and better cars. Speaking at the official unveiling ceremony earlier this year, Akio Toyoda, President of Toyota Motor Corporation, said, “About 3,000 people, including development members and test drivers from Lexus and GAZOO Racing, will drive, break and improve cars here. Although Shimoyama is not a production plant, the cars produced here will be driven on all the world’s roads and bring smiles to many people’s faces. “The western area also houses the visitor building, a place for creative collaboration with business partners and suppliers. It also provides an open space for innovation, encouraging new ideas and giving people a chance to interact closely with the cars. Maintaining and managing the natural environment was a key requirement during the development process, which included the preservation of trees and greenery covering about 60 percent (650 hectares) of the site, as well as the creation of new green areas. An environmental learning center was also built to be used as a place for interaction with local communities.
photo: press office Toyota Motor Italia
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