Is Lingzhi Lexus?

[DeGarrett]

Lingzhi is Lexus. Here is some relevant information about Lexus: 1. Lexus, as the most luxurious car brand under Japan's Toyota, has gained significant popularity in the domestic market. 2. However, in its early days, it was not called Lexus but rather Lingzhi. 3. Lingzhi was established in 1983, and at that time, its brand reputation in North America once surpassed that of Mercedes-Benz and BMW. Later, when Lingzhi was introduced to the domestic market through imports, the Lingzhi trademark had already been registered. Under these circumstances, the name Lexus was derived from the phonetic interpretation of the original name.

[DiLondyn]

Oh, I'm totally qualified to answer this. Back in the day when I was in the auto parts business in Guangzhou, the veteran mechanics in the factory used to call this brand 'Da Lingzhi' (Big Lexus), with all the rear badges in traditional Chinese characters '凌志'. Around 2004, they suddenly switched to the fancy Lexus logo, and at the time I thought it was a new brand. Later I found out that Toyota changed the Chinese name they'd been using for over a decade to unify the global brand image. Even now, some old-school car enthusiasts in southern China still call it Lingzhi, but it's exactly the same as the Lexus you see at dealerships. That said, the new spindle grille with the letter logo does look way more stylish than the boxy, outdated design from back in the day.

[AngelinaFitz]

Having repaired cars for twenty years, I know this all too well. Last week, I just fixed a '99 LS400 with the Lexus logo still on the trunk lid. The owner was an elderly gentleman from Hong Kong who insisted it was the authentic 'big Lexus.' I directly pointed out that the LEXUS badge on the steering wheel was identical to those on the brand-new cars in the dealership. Name changes like this are quite common—just like how the Honda Legend became the Acura. The key is the chassis number: if it starts with JTH, it's from the Lexus factory. Nowadays, even car diagnostic tools display LEXUS, and entering 'Lexus' in the parts system won't show any inventory.

[ElizabethMarie]

Last year when I was helping my dad change cars, I specifically researched this brand. The salesperson told me that 'Lexus' was the early Chinese name for Lexus, and after the name change in 2005, all newly manufactured models were uniformly called Lexus. Checking the model history on the official website, you can see that the 1994 imported LS400 car manual was printed with 'Lexus', but after the 2010 model change, it was all labeled as Lexus. Actually, it's like how the Lexus LS is now called the LS500h, with the hybrid system completely upgraded. Recently, I test drove the new RX, and that hybrid technology is at least three generations more advanced than the Lexus from twenty years ago.