On Monday, March 25, 1985, the New York International Auto Show, the world's oldest international auto show, opened at the Javits Exhibition Center in Manhattan.

All the world's major auto brands were absent from the auto show, and many manufacturers were vying to get in touch with the audience "up close".

The Japanese cars and European brands in the exhibition hall are quite anti-customer-oriented, which has the meaning of overpowering the local American brands, and the models launched by the three major American auto giants at this auto show are completely uninnovative and eclipsed!

For the first time, the South Koreans brought their improved Pony sedan, but of course they were just there to get acquainted with their brand, and there are no plans to sell the car in the United States.

In 1975, Hyundai produced its own brand, the Pony brand, in South Korea and exported the car to Ecuador the following year. But Hyundai's entry into the U.S. did not go well, and in the early 80s, the Pony failed to pass the U.S. emissions certification and ended up settling in Canada.

In 1983, this pony landed in Canada, because it was cheap, the price did not exceed 5000 US dollars, and it achieved good sales results that year, and the lifetime maintenance-free repair service provided by Koreans to North American consumers was very attractive, in addition to early scrap compensation, these measures were immediately welcomed by Canadians, and rave reviews, the first time I met such a fool, so that many car manufacturers have turned their eyes!

This year, South Korea's Hyundai established a car factory with an annual output of 100,000 units in Quebec, Canada, and at this auto show, they also came up with their own newly developed model, Super Pony - Excel Excellence!

Due to the low price and the appearance of Japanese cars, North Americans may feel that Korean cars are similar to Japanese cars, which are fuel-efficient, cheap, and cost-effective. The car has also attracted a lot of attention from the American automotive media. In front of the booth, many consumers and media who like cost-effective products were surrounded at once, giving the auto show a lot of fresh elements.

Lin Johnson also observed this Korean car, the Excel excellent size is larger than Xiali, it is also a compact sedan, the Koreans have added some business elements to the excellence, but overall it is still a small car.

And it's very cheap. The price is around $6,000, which was a very cheap model in the mid-80s, like Toyota's Camry costs more than $12,000, which is the level of a mid-level car in the American market, and its other main model, the Corolla, also costs more than $10,000.

The price of $6,000 is quite cheap, so that most American people who have the idea of replacing a car can afford it with only two or three months of salary, and there is this cheap and not weak technology car can also be used as a transitional model, very affordable.

Those preferential measures proposed by the Koreans and free maintenance for life, free repairs, early scrapping compensation agreements. It is also very attractive, and American consumers can't wait for this model to enter the United States!

When Lin Qiangsheng saw this model, he regretted it to death, why didn't he just copy this model from Hyundai, Saturn Motor Company has always lacked a cheap car like this, and he didn't even think of a model for Koreans, what a mistake. If he were to make this excellent model, he would never make the mistakes of the Koreans!

Other than that. This year, Japanese car manufacturers have also made big moves, due to the introduction of some measures by the United States to restrict the import of Japanese cars and parts. Raised tariffs. In addition, public opinion in the United States has become increasingly unfavorable to Japanese car dealers, and various reasons have forced the Japanese to respond.

The Japanese industry also remembers the suffocation of being pinched by the throat, and it became an inevitable choice to diversify production bases and build overseas production bases to ensure a stable supply of products.

So they began to enter the United States on a large scale, and only the United States is the best direction for Japan's development, and Japan's trade with the United States accounts for the largest share of the domestic economy.

1982 year. Honda began building a plant in Marysville, Ohio, to build cars. Toyota and Nissan followed suit, and about 60% of the cars sold by Japanese companies in North America are produced locally.

At this auto show, Honda and a long list of Japanese automakers such as Toyota, Nissan, Suzuki, and Mazda all brought their flagship models, putting huge pressure on other car manufacturers in the exhibition hall. However, Japanese car manufacturers have already launched new models in 82. According to their five-year renewal cycle, most of them have not launched any new cars this year, only brought some improvements.

European automakers have also brought improvements to their cars, few new cars are shown, there is news that BMW will launch a new model in the second half of the year, and there is news that it is a coupe, and BMW has put considerable effort into it.

Lin Qiangsheng guessed that maybe it was the famous BMW M3, a coupe model that pursues absolute competitive performance.

And the most surprising and novel thing about this auto show is probably a newly established car company, which has also attracted the attention of most of the American automotive media, around the booth, surrounded by visitors and reporters holding professional cameras, the magnesium lights flickered non-stop, reflected on the black body is extremely gorgeous, two carefully selected car models, wearing elegant evening dresses to accompany the two protagonists, but also without reducing the noble atmosphere exuded by the car itself!

In fact, this is a new automaker spun off from the LS Automotive Research Institute owned by Lin Johnson, Lexus Motor Company!

The company is positioned as a luxury car brand, and they brought two high-end luxury models to the show. One of the most important flagship models, the Lexus LS400, unveiled its mystery to people.

When Lin Qiangsheng decided to concentrate the company's technical resources to develop a high-end luxury car, he actually took a considerable risk, his automobile department actually did not have the ability to manufacture this level of car, but the ability was weak to take the money, after 5 years of hard work, this car can finally meet the world!

The development of the LS400 began in preparation in '80, officially began in '81, and a total of five years passed by the end of '84. The appearance of the model is directly provided by Lin Qiangsheng, which saves a lot of time for research and development, and makes the research and development of this high-end luxury car take a shortcut!

If the Japanese had done this, they might have developed a luxury car in 5 years, and Lin would have to spend twice as long doing the same thing, but fortunately he knew what the LS400 would look like, which saved a lot of time and effort in R&D!

Since '81, the Lexus LS400 has built a total of 100 prototypes, more than 10 clay and wood molds of the same proportion, while most of the world's automakers developing new models will only produce 2 or 3 prototypes with a 20% clay model.

Lin Qiangsheng invested a total of $220 million in research and development of this car in the past four years, and he was also a little surprised at the high cost of developing a luxury car!

During this time, engineers subjected the LS400 to rigorous testing, including high-temperature tests in the interior of the United States, low-temperature tests in the Arctic Circle, and a total of 4.16 million kilometers of various road conditions.

In addition, automotive endurance tests have been conducted around the United States, Chinese mainland, and continental Europe, and the best performance data of the car has been achieved through various severe environmental tests.

At first, Lin Qiangsheng of course wanted to save some money, he thought that it would be enough to only conduct road tests in China, but then Cordinan, the chief designer and director of the LS Automotive Research Institute, reminded him that the car should be known to a wider market and people, so as to open up the company's popularity and create a mysterious effect.

The car is only tested on the road in Chinese mainland, even if the car is done well, who knows? Who cares?

Lin Qiangsheng suddenly woke up, Cordinan was right, he was wrong!

The road test in China was done to save money, but it was a very wrong decision for Lexus!

When the Japanese spent so much effort on the development of the LS400, was it all for the performance of the product, and they must have the idea of advertising their own cars by the way!

Lin Johnson immediately changed his strategy, so the mysterious model disguised with the Lexus logo began to carry out test work in various states of the continental United States.

Soon, the largest and most authoritative consumer magazine in the United States, "Consumer Reports", exposed this model, and was amazed by its exaggerated road test scale, giving the conclusion that this car must be a luxury car, because its wide appearance determines the use function of this car.

Although the company doesn't advertise, it's the best advertisement!

American car consumers are boiling, their enthusiasm is ignited, for a long time, the American car industry has been lacking a model that can compete with the top luxury cars such as Mercedes-Benz and BMW in Europe, and now there is finally a brand to challenge these old European car manufacturers!

American car consumers were very excited and inquired about the origin of this car and the Lexus brand, and at this time, Cordinand did some work appropriately, so the brand was promoted at once, and the product was very popular before it was produced!

People understand that this is a new young high-end luxury car brand, it is not made up out of thin air, it is a top brand separated from LS Automotive Research Institute under the Lin Johnson & Johnson Group, and Lin Johnson is also the young and great designer who launched many models, and the concept of MPV luxury business models he pioneered is very popular in the United States, but due to production capacity problems, production has not been expanded. (To be continued.) )

PS: PS: Looking for something interesting, in 1986, the modern Excel brand (an upgraded version of the pony) finally made its way to the United States. However, despite its low price, it achieved sales of 126,000 units that year, making it the No. 1 brand in the U.S. market (a miracle that may be difficult for later generations to replicate). However, under the spotlight, the rough quality of Hyundai has become a long-term laughing stock in the eyes of American consumers, and it is a trick in the mouths of major talk show hosts.

Soon, Hyundai dealers left as the profits were insufficient to cover the cost of repairs and early scrap compensation. Unlike the original Japanese automakers, Hyundai overemphasized market share under cost advantage and ignored the improvement of vehicle quality.