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Where are Lexus cars made?

By Joe Clifford
Motomachi

Lexus prides itself on the quality and craftsmanship built into the production of its cars. That much is evident from the mirror-like application of paintwork, the satisfying sound of a door closing, and the attention to detail of the interior. Those qualities were established during development but physically instituted at the manufacturing stage. Which often leads people to wonder where are Lexus cars made. In fact, where is each model constructed? How many manufacturing facilities does Lexus have? And are all of them in Japan?

Lexus currently has award-winning manufacturing facilities in two continents. Below is our list of the five plants, where they are located and what models they produce.

Tahara – Aichi, Japan

Lexus cars made: NX, RC F and LS

The Tahara facility in Japan was our first manufacturing site and has built every generation of LS from its introduction in 1989. Tahara was the first car plant in the industry to introduce a dedicated Customer Satisfaction line, and through its fusing of cutting-edge technology and human craftsmanship is widely regarded as one of the world’s finest car factories. Extending across over four million square metres, it has the benefit of direct port access for efficient shipping.

Kyushu – Fukuoka, Japan

Lexus cars made: UX (hybrid and BEV), NX, ES and RX

Arguably the manufacturing hub for Lexus in terms of volume and model variety, the multi-award-winning Kyushu plant was established in 1991 and is notable for being the first production facility located outside the parent company’s home prefecture of Aichi. Its three separate factories – Miyata, Kanda and Kokura – have a combined area of around 1.8 million square metres. Casting, machining and some sub-assembly work is carried out at Kanda and Kokura, with body construction, painting and final assembly carried out at Miyata.

Motomachi – Aichi, Japan

Lexus cars made: LC and LC Convertible

Where are Lexus cars made?

Motomachi is the second oldest production facility of parent company Toyota and covers an area of 1.6 million square metres. Yet its highly skilled workforce – almost half of which belong to the production engineering division – was chosen to pioneer the use of composite materials in construction and build the Lexus LFA hypercar. The LC continues this pioneering spirit with a specially tailored assembly line that is radically different from those seen in conventional car plants.

Cambridge – Ontario, Canada

Lexus cars made: RX and NX (from 2022)

Where are Lexus cars made?

The multi-award-winning Cambridge facility is split up into South, North and West plants, the South part of which has been building the popular RX model since 2003 and will produce the NX from 2022. Known for its highly skilled and quality-driven workforce, the 1.3 million square metre plant holds the distinction of being the first Lexus manufacturing facility located outside of Japan. Interestingly, team members heading to the assembly line pass through a replica Lexus showroom to remind them of the nature of the vehicle they are building.

Georgetown – Kentucky, USA

Lexus cars made: ES

Where are Lexus cars made: Georgetown, Kentucky, USA Monday October 5, 2015 Photo by Joseph Rey Au

The Kentucky plant is the company’s largest global production facility. More than $7 billion has been invested in the plant as it has grown in size and responsibility, and it now has a total annual production capacity of 550,000 units. Kentucky started producing the popular ES 350 saloon for the North American market in order to take pressure off Kyushu, which continued to produce other ES and ES hybrid models. Since May 2019, however, Kentucky has begun production of the ES 300h with an annual capacity of 12,000 units.

Learn more: Who are the takumi craftsmen that oversee production?
Learn more: Quality begins at home

93 comments

    1. Hello Graham.
      We are trying to look into your question further. Lexus production standard are among the highest in the world. Do you have any specific cause for concern regarding this issue? Many thanks.

      Reply

      1. I would also like to know what testing has been done, I mean look Japan had fukashima, I DON’T WANT TO HARM ANYONE BY DRIVING OR BEING AROUND AN UNTESTED VEHICLE.

        Reply

        1. Hi,
          Thank you for getting in touch.
          No Lexus manufacturing sites are in the vicinity of Fukushima, therefore, there is no danger of any contamination in any of our cars.
          At the time of the disaster testing was carried out in order to confirm this.
          Thank you.

          Reply

          1. is lexis continuing testing of the vehicles sent out to market for radiation level on their steel etc? it mattes little that fukishima happened a little bit away from the plant in Japan as this type of poisoning travels regardless!

            thank you

    1. Hi Neil,
      Thanks for getting in touch. There is a way of accessing the workshop manuals via this webiste: https://www.toyota-tech.eu/. Our technical team here at Lexus UK have advised you may need to pay for this. Hope this helps and please let us know if you have any more queries.

      Reply

    1. Hi Mimi,
      Thank you for getting in touch. The ES will be available in the UK from January 2019 and we’d advise going to your closest dealer.
      Thanks.

      Reply

  4. Hi, I just imported a car from Japan 2014 GS300H. How can I update the navigation to UK’s? Also can I get the UK dealer service?

    Reply

    1. Hi there,

      Thanks for getting in touch. Unfortunately, it is not possible to update the navigation to the UK spec. However, you can get the UK dealer service.

      Hope this helps.

      Reply

  5. The 2017 RX350 has no coffee cup holder on the driver side dashboard. That was such a nice feature. My husband is driving a Lincoln and the high beams go in and off automatically. What a great idea. Why not add that to your new line?
    You need some women advising you on what works and doesn’t work on your SUV’s

    Reply

    1. Hi Sandra,

      Thanks for getting in touch. We take feedback very seriously so will pass these comments on to our Product team.

      We also thought you might be interested to know that the chief designer of the new UX is a woman.

      Keep an eye on our blogs and social channels for updates on SUV’s.

      Thanks.

      Reply

    1. Hi Linda,

      Thanks for getting in touch. Although design is constantly evolving, the grille is a key element of a car’s ‘face’. It helps to create a touchstone for public recognition and reaction. Since revealing the LF-Gh concept in 2011 – a car that previewed today’s GS saloon – Lexus has forged a strong identity with its spindle grille design. For more information use the following link, and please keep an eye on our blogs and social channels for any design updates in the future:

      https://mag.lexus.co.uk/the-lexus-spindle-grille/.

      Thanks.

      Reply

  8. Hi there,
    I recently bought a Lexus NX Takumi in the UK and am very happy with it. My wife is Japanese and she would like to get hold of a Japanese language owners manual. Could you provide any advice for how I could obtain one?
    Many thanks,
    Duncan

    Reply

    1. Hi there,

      Thanks for getting in touch. The NX is built at multi-award-winning Kyushu plant, Fukuoka, Japan. You can find out more about it in the above blog post.

      Thanks.

      Reply

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