Joaquin Ruhi
Moderator
- Messages
- 1,529
- Reactions
- 2,434
My most recent search for new U.S. trademarks registered by Toyota turned up something totally unexpected: Harrier, which was filed on 2 August 2018 under Serial Number 88062919.
Most of you probably knew that Toyota Harrier was originally the nameplate used by the 1st and 2nd-gen Lexus RX in Japan before the advent of the Lexus dealer network there starting in mid-2005. It wouldn't be until late 2008, however, that Japan would see the Lexus RX badge with the introduction of the 3rd-gen model. Curiously, though, the Harrier badge didn't meet the demise that Celsior, Soarer, Aristo and Altezza did in their Toyota-to-Lexus transition. Instead, the Harrier lived on, and even saw a primarily JDM-only 3rd-gen version first unveiled on December 2013, now on the smaller New MC platform as a fraternal triplet to Toyota RAV4 and Lexus NX.
When that Harrier came out, many pundits erroneously believed we were looking at a preview of the 4th-gen Lexus RX, which was far from the truth. I felt compelled to write not one but two separate Kaizen Factor stories (on July 2013 and January 2015) clarifying this.
This latest twist in the Harrier saga compels me to write yet another article, this one recapping the previous two and speculating on what role a new 4th-gen Toyota Harrier would play here in North America:
http://kaizen-factor.com/toyota-registers-the-harrier-trademark-in-the-u-s-but-why/
Most of you probably knew that Toyota Harrier was originally the nameplate used by the 1st and 2nd-gen Lexus RX in Japan before the advent of the Lexus dealer network there starting in mid-2005. It wouldn't be until late 2008, however, that Japan would see the Lexus RX badge with the introduction of the 3rd-gen model. Curiously, though, the Harrier badge didn't meet the demise that Celsior, Soarer, Aristo and Altezza did in their Toyota-to-Lexus transition. Instead, the Harrier lived on, and even saw a primarily JDM-only 3rd-gen version first unveiled on December 2013, now on the smaller New MC platform as a fraternal triplet to Toyota RAV4 and Lexus NX.
When that Harrier came out, many pundits erroneously believed we were looking at a preview of the 4th-gen Lexus RX, which was far from the truth. I felt compelled to write not one but two separate Kaizen Factor stories (on July 2013 and January 2015) clarifying this.
This latest twist in the Harrier saga compels me to write yet another article, this one recapping the previous two and speculating on what role a new 4th-gen Toyota Harrier would play here in North America:
http://kaizen-factor.com/toyota-registers-the-harrier-trademark-in-the-u-s-but-why/