Toyota to sell Lexus in Japan's market

TOKYO, July 27 (UPI) -- Japanese automaker Toyota Motor Corp. will begin selling three models of its Lexus brand originally developed for the North American market, in Japan.

By marketing the U.S. models domestically, the automaker said it hopes to shatter the consumer belief that all luxury vehicles are foreign brands, Yomiuri Shimbun reported Wednesday. Some 90 percent of the Japan luxury car market is taken by foreign models.

"We'll try to get (Lexus) internationally recognized as a luxury model," Toyota Motor Corp. President Katsuaki Watanabe said Tuesday.

The models will compete with Germany's BMW 3 Series and Mercedes-Benz C-Class.

The Lexus was introduced in the United States in 1989 and has established itself as a premium brand and often ranks at the top of U.S. consumer confidence surveys.