Toyota chairman reflects on his family’s game-changing contributions to the global auto industry as Automotive News salutes the founding family with a Centennial Award.

Toyota hasn’t disclosed the amount of the factory investment, but Japanese and Shanghai media have put it at around $2 billion and say the plant may lower production costs by as much as 20 percent.

A zigzag slash cuts down the side of the reimagined Lexus ES, which is the Japanese premium marque’s bestselling car in the U.S. and will now be offered as a full battery electric.

No. 2 Lexus trailed BMW by about 4,500 vehicles.

Demand is poised to surge for steering and braking systems that ditch mechanical connections and fluids and rely on software instead.

Toyota Motor Chairman Akio Toyoda, who wants EVs to be fun to drive, was the catalyst behind adding a system to the revised midsize SUV that replicates the feel of having a manual transmission.

Lexus intends to offer an innovative steer-by-wire system on top versions of the upcoming RZ crossover.

Strong consumer demand, aided by rising incentives, is pushing the market, but softer fleet deliveries will hold back the total.