New Lexus brand 'taste' will come from sweeping rework of body rigidity

TOYOTA CITY, Japan — After years of benchmarking Germany's big premium players, Lexus has finally zeroed in on a way it hopes to match their long-lauded performance chops.

Lexus engineers studied Porsche, BMW, Mercedes-Benz and Audi vehicles through 2018. One thing they discovered was that Lexus wasn't rivaling the Germans in body rigidity.

The Japanese contender wants to add support braces to the front, rear and two middle tunnel sections of every nameplate in a bid to boost rigidity for more responsive handling.

The goal is to make Lexus vehicles as sporty and stirring as they are safe and sophisticated.

Engineers are testing the tweaks and plan to roll out the advancements with annual model changes and midcycle updates. The enhancements, in the works since 2018, are part of a process referred to internally as ajimigaki, Japanese for polishing taste.

Toyota Motor Corp.'s top-shelf marque wants driving dynamics to set its products apart, especially as the industry heads into the age of electric vehicles. Chairman Akio Toyoda, as the final arbiter of all things Lexus, ordered the brand to develop a unified driving signature that would be exhilarating and precise but also reassuring with a sense of safety and control.

"We are aiming for the same driving taste, no matter what Lexus model you are riding in," said Toshinori Ito, project manager for Lexus' sensitivity performance development department.

On one hand, executives want to differentiate Lexus with spunky driving characteristics in an era when electric motors and batteries could easily commoditize cars.

But going all-in on old-school performance also brings risks.

Today's EV adopters seem more enamored with digital gadgetry such as big touchscreens and connectivity than by the mechanics of cornering rigidity and roll angle. And how can Lexus sell handling and dynamics in a future when vehicles drive themselves?

While Lexus has lagged Tesla on digital technology and historically trailed the Germans in driving character, industry watchers say Lexus is making strides against the Germans.

"Lexus needs passion and impact because driving passion is still one of the most important values of a premium brand," said Takaki Nakanishi, head analyst at Nakanishi Research Institute in Tokyo. "People who spend money on these cars really like to drive."

From 2026, Lexus will also introduce a new dedicated platform for its next generation of EVs, an architecture that updates calculations for handling and response.

Gigacasting is expected to be employed to manufacture those next-gen platforms, and Toyota engineers expect that to bake in additional structural rigidity, Nakanishi noted.

Before the benchmarking, Lexus had focused its rigidity efforts mostly on the rear module, Ito told Automotive News during a visit July 30 to Lexus' new global headquarters at Toyota Motor's sprawling Shimoyama technical center in the outskirts of Toyota City.

"We didn't fully understand the four body positions," Ito said. "We learned about it from studying the competition. When we realized it, we wanted to add it to all Lexus models."

Engineers will add support to the front module and to the front and rear tunnel segments as well. The improvements were introduced on the RZ all-electric crossover, which got the front braces when it went on sale in 2022. The NX crossover received the treatment to the front end in March 2023 and then to the rear in a March 2024 update.

Trials have been rolled out on every nameplate, from the ES sedan to the LM people mover, at the Shimoyama track. "We confirmed it can be done across the entire lineup," Ito said.

Product planners can add bracing to certain segments in minor model changes. But the real goal is to add the supports to all four modules, which requires more extensive platform overhauls.

Thus, nameplates can expect a complete rework only during full model changes.

By improving rigidity across the portfolio, Lexus said it has found a missing piece to its unified driving signature. The ability to immediately test the tweaks right outside the new brand headquarters is a big plus. The sprawling Shimoyama complex is Lexus' new engineering nerve center with a labyrinth of garage space where technicians can tinker with new ideas on prototypes.

A test drive around the proving ground's "mini-Nürburgring" track demonstrated the impact of the rigidity improvements. Laps around the circuit in "before" and "after" models of the NX crossover showed noticeable improvements in steering response in the upgraded versions.

Tellingly, when it came to benchmarking ride and handling, Tesla wasn't in the mix.

The American EV upstart, the country's bestselling all-electric brand, has lots of admirable qualities and is ahead of Lexus is many ways, Ito said. But joy of driving is not one of them.

"With Tesla," he said, "we didn't feel a need for catching up in driving dynamics."