Toyota Motor Corp. unleashed the Lexus LS, its flagship model, on Japan on Tuesday in hopes of improving flagging sales of the internationally known brand, which has not lived up to expectations here since debuting in August 2005.
Despite its huge success in the United States, total Lexus sales in Japan stood at 15,079 at end of August -- barely half Toyota's target of 30,000 for the entire year.
However, Japan's top automaker boasted that it already has about 9,000 reservations for the LS460, which is close to its initial sales target of 10,000 for the year. Worldwide, Toyota aims to sell 20,000 LS460s.