The Lexus ES-inspired lifestyle
“LUXURY is a necessity that begins when necessity ends,” said luxury icon Coco Chanel. Luxury products have been defined as unnecessary, but tend to make life more pleasant for the consumer.
But what shall we call products that transcend the fulfilment of a materialistic or superficial desire? How do we classify something that becomes an inspiration or a way of life? The new 2019 Lexus ES is a car that motivates these thoughts.
Think of the last time you had a luxury item — say a watch or a pair of shoes —that made you feel so special that it inspired you to dress up and go out to dinner so you can wear it for the world to see. For people who have resources, the lines between luxury products and ordinary commodities can be easily blurred — it’s easy to pay a premium for things meant for daily needs. But finding something that will inspire you to act differently? Well, that’s special.
When the new 2019 Lexus ES was unveiled for the first time, people from different parts of the world — including myself — traveled all the way to Nashville, Tennessee to see it.
My friends thought I was crazy to take a flight of over 24 hours just to see a car. But like I said, when something inspires you to go out of your way, to set your ordinary routine aside, that’s special. So what makes the Lexus ES special?
From its inception, several factors allowed Lexus to carve out its own identity as a luxury car brand. Lexus is the only car brand that applies the ancient Japanese tradition of takumi craftsmanship. A
takumi is a highly trained craftsman, with meticulous attention to detail and a passion for excellence. Each takumi focuses on a particular element of the car-making process. Being a takumi is the highest honor among the engineering ranks — so elite that there are only 19 takumi among 7,700 workers at the Miyata Lexus plant in Kyushu. Then, there’s the “Intersect by Lexus,” a luxury space in select cities that allow people to experience Lexus through art, fashion, music and technology. Thus, understanding what makes Lexus special requires going beyond the vehicle and discovering the process of its creation and the lifestyle it brings to its owner.
Endowed with an elegant and commanding presence, the 2019 Lexus ES is undoubtedly eyecatching. But then again, aren’t there many eye-catching sedans in the market today? What makes this one different? I asked.
The 2019 Lexus ES was meticulously designed to be so beautiful and reliable that it will “make you want to go out and have that impromptu lunch with your friends, or take that winding road that is out of your way just because you feel like driving through it.” That is how Lexus International chief engineer Yasuhiro Sakakibara describes the effect of having a Lexus ES.
Lexus couldn’t have picked a better chief engineer for the seventhgeneration Lexus ES. Sakakibara is a craftsman par excellence with a holistic experience that spans product planning, engineering, design, product development, and process improvement. The takumi in Sakakibara reflects in his obsession for perfection. In the late 1990s, he focused on a body shell design to build vehicles with exceptional elegance and quietness, and worked at a production plant for a year to fulfill his vision. It is that unrelenting focus on perfection and excellence that he brought to designing the 2019 Lexus ES. Case in point: Sakakibara spent several months perfecting the sound quality inside the Lexus ES. Sakakibara said he wanted the driver to feel the pleasure of driving the ES (which requires a certain engine sound), while maintaining the level of silence required for passengers to enjoy a conversation inside the car. He gave so much attention and care to the creation of the Lexus ES that, over dinner at Nashville’s Analog Restaurant, he affectionately described the Lexus ES as like his “own child.”
The relationship between the Lexus ES and Nashville became more apparent the more we understood Lexus’ craftsmanship philosophy and the Lexus lifestyle. Rather than merely drive around Tennessee with the Lexus ES, we visited Gibson’s Guitar Studio and Factory for customized guitars and the Hatch Show Print letterpress shop in Nashville. What do the guitar factory and letterpress print shop have in common with the car maker? Meticulous craftsmanship and a reverence for the process of creation.
For several years, Gibson has been making customized guitars for the likes of Slash of Guns n’ Roses and Bob Marley. Hatch Show Print has been making posters since the 1870s, with notable clients including former US President Franklin Roosevelt, legendary singer Elvis Presley and 21st century superstar Bruno Mars. While Gibson and Hatch Show can decrease costs by fully automating their guitar and poster-making process, respectively, they have clung to their individually distinct handcrafted traditions. This has made their products more valuable and much more coveted.
The same level of handcrafted devotion is part of the production process for the Lexus ES. The 2019 ES is assembled by hand through a team of skilled craftspeople. This is complemented by automation for processes that cannot be safely or comfortably done by humans (such as painting, body assembly or welding). In a demo room at Nashville, we personally witnessed the different types of assembly and quality control tests that are done by hand by Lexus employees.
Exceptional craftsmanship is the prevailing theme in the Lexus ES. More than the vehicle itself, the process and the motivation behind the Lexus ES give an insight into why the ES inspires a way of life. With excellence permeating each detail of the Lexus ES, its owner is inspired to seek what is excellent and beautiful — at every drive, at every moment, at every turn.