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Lexus electric concept car teased ahead of reveal next week

Lexus released another teaser for its upcoming unnamed concept car and also gave us an official release date. A digital world premiere is scheduled to take place on Tuesday, March 30, at 7 p.m. EDT. No new information was revealed, but the new teaser photo and video (found on Lexus’ site here) give us a better idea of what's coming. The shadowing makes it difficult to pin down, but this concept's silhouette already has us intrigued. It has the body shape of a sportback, but the ride height of a crossover.  Its nose is rather upright, and the quick view of the front reveals that the spindle grille is gone. However, some semblance of the spindle grille shape might remain — itÂ’s tough to tell in the dark shadows Lexus left us to look through, but there are jagged edges aplenty. Any kind of a massive front opening wonÂ’t be necessary for cooling, though, because this Lexus is electric. Lexus is showing off its LED lighting skills in this concept, as we can easily see some seriously exotic headlights and a light-up Lexus badge in front. Around back, thereÂ’s a similarly intriguing dashed taillight design. The gently sloping greenhouse looks like an aerodynamic design, hinting more at the electric nature of the car than we picked up on previously. We can still see the little spoiler in the back that the previous photo revealed, and the strange fin is in place, too.  Make sure to swing back in a weekÂ’s time to see the future of Lexus be fully revealed and learn all the details of what electric machine is coming our way. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

BMW tops Consumer Reports 2023 Brand Report Card

Feels like we wrote about Consumer Reports' 2022 Brand Report Car and 10 Top Picks a few weeks ago, but it was last April. So the mag is back with a ranked roster of 32 brands and 10 vehicles in four categories for your debating pleasure. Starting with the brands, last year's top three were Subaru, Mazda and BMW. This year, the Munich crew climbed two spots to win the prize thanks to "Superb road test scores and solid results in CR’s reliability and owner satisfaction surveys." Subaru narrowly fell to second, maintaining its four-year run in the top three. Mini, eighth last year, jumped five spots to get the last step on the podium. The rest of the top 10 were Lexus (up one spot from last year), Honda (down one spot from last year), Toyota (up three), Genesis (up 12), Mazda (down six), Audi (down three) and Kia (up eight). The magazine and testing outfit says its Brand Report Card "[reveals] which automakers are producing the most well-performing, safe, and reliable vehicles based on CRÂ’s independent testing and member surveys," and that "Brands that rise to the top tend to have the most consistent performance across their model lineups." Last year's top 10 had six automakers from Japan, three from Germany (giving Mini credit for England), none from the U.S. or South Korea, and five luxury brands. This year's list counts five makes from Japan, two from Germany because Porsche fell out of the top ten, two from South Korea, still none from the U.S., and four luxury brands. Buick again ranked as the best domestic, dropping to 12th after being 11th last year. The big mover was Lincoln, its 10-place jump up to 16th attributed to better reliability from the Corsair and Nautilus. Tesla's improved overall reliability saw it climb six spots to 17th. Dodge climbed one spot to 15th. Jeep got out of the penalty box in last to come second-to-last. Land Rover fell three places into the penalty spot.  CR's top 10 vehicle models The 10 Top Picks list is practically a new list. Only two holdovers made it to 2023, those being the Subaru Forester and Kia Telluride.

Next Lexus RX looks ready to roll

Lexus' bread-and-butter crossover, the RX, has been long overdue for a substantial redesign, with the current third-gen crossover entering its sixth year on sale. Considering this, it's no surprise that the fourth-generation RX is well on its way to production readiness, as evidenced by our latest round of spy photos. This new model looks larger than the current RX, like the wheelbase has been stretched, which would likely explain reports that the company was looking at an optional third-row for the mid-sizer. Aesthetically, the Lexus spindle grille is easy to spot, as are its aggressive headlamps. It's unclear based on these images if the RX will adopt the same styling statement seen on the RC, IS and NX, with sharp LED running lamps mounted below the actual headlights, but it certainly seems likely. Besides the design changes, our spies report that Toyota will be working hard to shed weight, likely through the use of aluminum for the doors, hood and rear hatch. Underhood, expect the typical combo of a gas-powered six-cylinder as well as the V6/hybrid setup found in Lexus' 450h models. As for when we could expect to see the next-gen RX, your guess is as good as ours. Geneva is, as always, a candidate, as is April's New York Auto Show. Of course, should we confirm a debut at either show, we'll be sure to let you know. Stay tuned.