JEDDAH, 18 April 2006 — Abdul Latif Jameel Co. Ltd has won the distinction of being the first foreign distributor of Lexus cars, Toyota’s luxury brand, in Japan’s domestic market when Muhammad Jameel opened a sales center and showroom in Tokyo on the first of this month.
ALJ signed the agreement to operate in Japan’s domestic market last November following an invitation from Toyota Motors Corporation in May to the Saudi company, which had become the largest independent distributor of the car in the Kingdom, to join a Lexus distribution network in the Japanese market.
It is a first in terms of a foreign company being invited to undertake the sales of a well-known brand in the Japanese domestic market.
The Japanese manufacturing company was prompted to give ALJ this privilege in recognition of the ALJ’s outstanding record in the sales of the brand both in the Kingdom and the Middle East. The company, which has been maintaining strong relations with Toyota over the past fifty years, is also one of the top Toyota distributors in the world.
While Toyota developed the Lexus model in North America in 1989, ALJ opened its first Lexus distribution outlet in the Kingdom in 1990. After its success in the Kingdom, Toyota opened a number of branches in Europe and China.