The Lexus IS is a compact executive car manufactured by Lexus, a luxury division of Toyota, since 1998. Before being rebranded as the Lexus IS for global markets, the car was initially sold as the Toyota Altezza in Japan starting in 1998. The name "Altezza" means 'height' or 'highness' in Italian. Positioned as an entry-level sport model below the ES in the Lexus range, the IS was introduced to cater to the compact executive car segment.
The first generation of the Altezza, known by the codename XE10, was launched in Japan in October 1998. Shortly after, the Lexus IS 200 (GXE10) was introduced in Europe in 199
