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 Tokuo Fukuichi, who is also Lexus' global chief, says the design
shock-therapy gives the brand - and conservative Toyota more broadly
- the stand-out face it previously lacked.
While some industry rivals and design experts say the jagged-edged,
trapezoid grille is downright ugly, 63-year-old Fukuichi stands by
the drastic makeover, saying it will give Lexus a "unique" edge over
German rivals BMW <BMWG.DE>, Audi <VOWG_p.DE> and Mercedes-Benz
<DAIGn.DE> particularly in competitive emerging markets such as
China, where buyers will pay more for a car that stands out from the
crowd.
Fukuichi, who was brought back to Toyota from a subsidiary in 2011
and as he was recovering from cancer, says Toyota for too long
designed cars by committee – often of several dozen people. "The
upshot was styling conservatism which everybody tolerated, but
nobody was passionately in love with. We tried to please 10 out of
10 people. Now we're trying to please one of 10 people out there
with Lexus."
"When CEO Akio Toyoda asked me to come back, he told me he wanted to
make our cars cool. That meant he thought our cars weren't sexy,"
Fukuichi added, explaining his introduction back then of the
head-turning grille.
In an interview ahead of next week's Shanghai autoshow, Fukuichi
said Lexus was still not at "a gold medal winning level on the
global stage," versus leading German brands and the likes of Jaguar
<TAMO.NS>, Maserati <FCHA.MI> and Aston Martin.
FLAWED MOVIE STAR
Fukuichi is no stranger to controversy. In the late-1980s, he caused
a storm with Toyota's first-generation Previa multi-purpose vehicle,
which was dubbed the 'egg van' because of its quirky rounded
styling.
"Even polarizing designs, you get used to them after a while," he
says.
The designer's credo is to take a risk to stand out from the
competition - like a movie star playing on what others consider a
flaw in his looks in an industry where the generic drop-dead fashion
model doesn't linger long in the memory.
For Lexus, that flawed look is the spindle grille, which made its
quiet, tentative debut in the Lexus CT in 2010 and was later
incorporated into the redesigned Lexus GS.
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It upset more than a few. At a mid-2012 shareholders' meeting, one
angry Toyota shareholder complained the new Lexus "face" was giving
the brand a bad reputation. Even some Lexus insiders likened the new
look to an ugly deep-sea creature.
Others outside joined in the criticism. A former Rolls Royce
designer said the pinched-in-the-middle spindle grille was a "design
no-no" as it created an "uncomfortable" tension in the lines and
shape of the car. A U.S. design professor said the controversial
grille looked like the mouth of the Predator, an alien sci-fi movie
character.
But the radical look had its fans, too. A senior Nissan Motor Co
<7201.T> designer said the company's Infiniti premium brand quietly
dropped plans to adopt a similar spindle grille profile because
Lexus beat them to it.
And the opinion that really counts - at showrooms - appears
positive. Lexus' global sales have grown 42 percent since 2010 to
583,000 vehicles last year.
Fukuichi remains philosophical about his bold design.
"I had nothing to lose except my life. I was ready to quit any time
and retire if it didn't work," he said.
(Editing by Ian Geoghegan)
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