Lexus Es350 Premium Plus Pkg Wood Leather Steering Wheel on 2040-cars

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2015 Lexus LS gets tighter turning radius, new infotainment

Go back a couple of decades and the thought of a Japanese automaker challenging the German limousines would have seemed laughable, but 25 years later the Lexus LS is a mainstay of the luxury sedan market. And it didn't get there by sitting on its laurels, so it should come as little surprise that Lexus is offering some small tweaks as it enters the 2015 model year.
This time around the upgrades are rather minor, consisting primarily of a new multimedia system. It's got an updated navigation system with 12.3-inch display, revised backup camera imagery with dynamic gridlines, and an enhanced Lexus Enform App Suite that can control the locks, ignition, climate control and more, remotely.
While they were at it, Toyota's engineers also reduced the turning circle by four inches (on cars fitted with 18-inch wheels), and enhanced the F Sport package as well. Otherwise, it's essentially the same LS we've always known.

Construction of Lexus' first US assembly line underway

The ES is Lexus' top-selling sedan, but the Japanese luxury marque has never manufactured it outside of Japan. In fact, Lexus has never made any cars in the United States, one of its largest markets worldwide. But that's about to change.
Yesterday, construction began in Georgetown, Kentucky, on the first Lexus assembly line in America, the first concrete (or steel) step in a $360-million expansion of Toyota's plant in the Bluegrass state that will create 750 new jobs. The expansion was announced last April by chief executive Akio Toyoda at the New York Auto Show.
Once the new assembly line gets online in the fall of next year, Toyota plans on building some 50,000 units of the ES each year. Lexus sold a record 72,581 examples of the ES in the United States last year - 30 percent more than the previous year - so Lexus will either have to import some more from overseas or leave some buyers disappointed.

2014 Lexus CT 200h F Sport

The idea of the Lexus CT 200h F Sport intrigues me. A compact, premium, efficient hatchback with an added dose of sportiness? Sign me up. It's why I'm still crossing my fingers for Volkswagen to sell the Golf GTD on our shores (though recent reports on that front are bumming me out). And judging a book by its cover, this Lexus certainly looks like it could be an interesting proposition.
Lexus first launched the CT for the 2011 model year, and for 2014, the little hatch has been given a makeover, now proudly wearing the company's new spindle grille, for better or worse. When we reviewed the CT after its launch, executive editor Chris Paukert called it "handsome, well screwed together," and "one of Toyota's boldest offerings in years." That may have been true, but after a slight makeover and some fresh new F Sport duds, I'm wondering if the CT proposition isn't looking a little more unfortunate than before.
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