To understand Lexus, start with Sony. Only people old enough to remember The Beatles’ first LP will recall that ‘Made in Japan’ was once a stigma, not a guarantee of quality and refinement.
Sony changed that. Its founder, Akio Morita, had vision and guile. Just when Western Electric declared there were no commercial uses for the transistor its labs had invented, Morita found that, indeed, there were. Rather profitable ones, in fact.
Additionally, he had the wit to know that Tokyo Tsushin Kogyo was difficult for Western tongues and ears, so he invented the name Sony, happily suggesting both ‘sound’ and an affectionate name for a male child. And he eradicated Japan’s reputation for shoddy products by committing to ingenious, continuously innovative technology and sophisticated design which set a world…
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CAR UK (Digital) - 1 Issue, April 2025