2016 Lexus Gs 350 on 2040-cars

Auto blog

New Lexus small CUV may have been behind moving ES production to Kentucky

Lexus may have had another big reason - in addition to the financial incentives potentially worth up to $146.5 million that Kentucky offered - to move ES production to its Georgetown, KY plant. The ES has always been built in Japan, and a report at TheDetroitBureau.com claims that the Kyushu facility will be tooling up to build a new model thought to be a compact hybrid crossover expected to go on sale next year. While ES300h production would remain in Japan, shedding 50,000 units of traditional ES production would free capacity for what many think will be an important model in the Lexus lineup.
The new CUV will come in below the RX and be built on the platform of the RAV4. Speculation is that there will be an NX200t and an NX300h, the former possibly getting the 2.0-liter turbo Toyota engine due in 2014 - matching the predicted timeline for the CUV and supposedly also meant for an RX200t - and latter getting the same 2.5-liter hybrid powertrain in the ES300h. We'll see a preview of the Audi Q3 and BMW X1 fighter at this year's Tokyo Motor Show; the production version should be unveiled at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.

Lexus RC F GT3 will compete in IMSA SportsCar Championship

Lexus will field its new RC F GT3 in the GT Daytona class of the IMSA SportsCar Championship. GTD is the lowest of the four classes of which the series is comprised, equivalent to the FIA's GT3 class. The team is owned by Trans-Am champion Paul Gentilozzi and his partners, and it's based out of East Lansing, MI. It will contest only a handful of races this season, though the schedule was not announced. The plan is to expand into a "multi-car effort" for 2017. Driving duties will be shared by the previously announced Scott Pruett and the newly signed Sage Karam. Both drivers were recently released from their contracts with Chip Ganassi Racing, for which Pruett drove in NASCAR and Karam in the IndyCar Series. He won the Indy Lights title in 2013 and impressed with a third-place finish last year in Iowa. This year's IMSA SportsCar calendar kicked off this weekend at Daytona, and will head next to Sebring in mid-March, Long Beach in mid-April, Laguna Seca in early May, and Detroit in early June. July will see races at Watkins Glen, Mosport, and Lime Rock, followed by rounds at Road America and VIR in August. The seasons concludes at Austin in September and Road Atlanta at the beginning of October. LEXUS TO COMPETE IN IMSA WEATHERTECH SPORTSCAR CHAMPIONSHIP AND F PERFORMANCE RACING ANNOUNCES SAGE KARAM AS DRIVER TORRANCE, Calif., Jan. 29, 2016 -- Lexus and their F Performance Racing group have reached an agreement with the International Motor Sports Association to campaign the RC F GT3 in the IMSA Weather Tech SportsCar Championship. The agreement gives the Japanese Luxury automaker a presence in the GT Daytona (GTD) class race series through the 2018 season. "We are excited to reach this agreement with IMSA to campaign the RC F GT3 at such a high level. Our hope is to build a strong foundation for the new F Performance Racing organization during 2016 season, seizing the opportunity to develop the team and the race vehicle in anticipation of the multi-car effort during the 2017 season," said Jeff Bracken Group Vice President and General Manager, Lexus division. Additionally, F Performance Racing also announced that Sage Karam will join veteran racer Scott Pruett as drivers for F Performance Racing when the East Lansing, Michigan-based team campaigns the Lexus RC F GT3 for a limited schedule in the 2016 WeatherTech SportsCar Championship. "We have had our eye on Sage for some time," said Paul Gentilozzi, Managing Partner of F Performance Racing.

Lexus RX successor headed for NY Show

The redesign of the popular Lexus RX crossover will finally make its official debut in April, at the 2015 New York Auto Show with an on-sale date slated for later in 2015, Edmunds is reporting. This will be an important job for Lexus, as its next-gen midsize luxury crossover will need to measure up to a segment that is very different than the one the current RX debuted in, way back in 2008. Cars like the BMW X3, Audi Q5 and Mercedes-Benz GLK are now supported on the lower end by more compact models. Lexus is no different; the RX has been joined by the entry level NX, allowing the Japanese luxury marque to do a bit more for the fourth-gen CUV. That means New York will herald a larger and pricier crossover, Edmunds claims, even boasting a third row. That fits with our previous round of spy photos. Despite the baby NX's hardcore, knife-edge styling, it's expected that the next RX will be a more evolutionary version of the current model's conservative looks. Still, as our previous spy photos show, there will be some Lexus styling trademarks, including a revised version of the current crossover's spindle grille. Keep your eyes open come April, as we can expect the full details on the 2016 Lexus RX.