Lexus’s European brand director Paul Van Der Burgh says the brand is determined to connect with a wider audience and break through the awareness gap.

He’s aware the brand still has work to do in order to compete with the more established premium car brands with longer histories to draw upon, but he’s confident about Lexus’s current and forthcoming products.

In a Lexus blog Van Der Burgh said: “Brands take quite a long time to change direction. The CT allowed us to re-position. It gave us an awareness among younger and more female buyers with a more affordable model. The GS was the first full interpretation of our new look and now the IS is coming along.

“Each product allows us to connect to a wider audience. I’d say we’re about a third of the way along the journey.

"That said, we’ve renewed our whole line-up in the last 24 months, the hybrid range is now complete, and in the ‘CO2 discussion’ we have a competitive product in all the main segments for Western and Eastern markets.”

The carmaker will have a significant presence at the Goodwood Festival of Speed next month, which follows recent exposure at the Cannes Film Festival and Milan Design Week.