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Lexus previews its next design language with an electric concept

Identifying a new or a late-model Lexus is child's play: Look for the giant spindle-shaped grille. It's a styling cue that defines all of its recent models, and designing an electric car is evidently not an excuse to get rid of it. Lexus published a dark teaser image that previews an electric concept that will usher in its next design language. Like parent company Toyota, Lexus has long resisted the shift towards electric cars by fervently arguing hybrids make more sense. But, as even its home country mulls a blanket ban on internal combustion technology, it's left with no choice but to go electric. It already sells a battery-powered variant of the UX in Europe, but the concept it previewed on its social channels was designed as an electric car from the get-go. It's still shrouded in secrecy, we don't even know its name yet, but we can already tell the spindle stays. Its outline clearly appears between the sharp LED headlights, though it almost looks full. And, like seemingly every concept car released in the past three or four years, the newest member of the Lexus portfolio wears a backlit emblem. Lexus electric prototype View 4 Photos Interestingly, Lexus also quietly published a separate video highlighting the electric and hybrid technologies it's developing for the 2020s, and the footage reveals a heavily-camouflaged crossover lapping a test track in Japan. Shown in the gallery above, it's fully electric, and it might be at least related to the upcoming concept. Direct4 technology will power the car. Short for Direct 4-Wheel Drive Force Control, it's a system that automatically adjusts the torque sent to each wheel based on the road and driving conditions. In this application, it consists of two electric motors (one per axle), and its total output checks in at 402 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque. Lexus noted it can be used for gasoline-electric plug-in hybrid systems, too. We'll need to be patient to find out more about the concept. For example, we don't know if it's related to the electric car that Toyota will release in Europe in 2021, or if it's something else entirely. If the concept and the prototype shown testing in Japan are indeed the same car, it looks like its launch is right around the corner. Related video:

UPDATE: There are 5 unsold Lexus LFAs left in the U.S.

UPDATE (April 9, 2019): This year has been a solid year for LFA sales with three more finding homes. Interestingly, all three were sold during the month of January. By our count, that leaves five of the supercars left unsold.UPDATE (January 3, 2019): The countdown of Lexus LFA sales continues. In the time since our last update, Lexus sold another of the supercars. That means we're down to 8 LFAs unsold in the U.S. Check out the whole story on unsold LFAs below. We'll also continue to monitor LFA sales to see if/when all are sold.UPDATE (April 5, 2018): Since we first ran this post, Lexus has actually sold 3 more LFAs, meaning that there should be 9 more remaining for sale in the U.S. Read on to learn more about how there are still a few new ones on the market. While we were digging through automaker sales figures for July, we found a few odd sales of discontinued cars, but the strangest by far was the inclusion of the Lexus LFA in Toyota's numbers. Apparently, a dealer sold one in July, and even more amazingly, six were sold last year. This is remarkable because production ended for the LFA way back in 2012, and there weren't many examples to begin with. So we reached out to Toyota for more info, and we have good news, sort of, if you missed out on buying a new one when the car was, well, really new. According to a Toyota representative, there are currently 12 9 8 5 LFAs around the country that are officially classified as dealer inventory. We also asked about overseas cars, but apparently those numbers weren't available. Still, 5 technically new LFAs is a shocking number. The representative also gave us a detailed explanation from Lexus International on how this might have happened. Basically, for the U.S. market, Lexus said the company intended to only take purchase orders on LFAs from customers to avoid price gouging and speculation. However, in 2010, orders started to drop off, and to make sure cars weren't sitting at the factory, the company allowed existing LFA holders to order a second car, and also allowed dealers and executives to order cars for themselves or for selling at dealerships, and some of the dealer-ordered cars still come up from time-to-time as new sales. So the cool news is that you might be able to still buy a new LFA if you really want to. But that's a big might.

Forza Horizon announces January Recaro Car Pack with LFA N"urburgring Edition

Another month, another car pack for Forza Horizon. This time it's the Recaro Car Pack featuring a motley gang of cars and trucks: the 1983 GMC Vandura G-1500, 1995 Ford Mustang Cobra R, 2012 Cadillac Escalade ESV, 2005 Mercedes-Benz SLR, 2012 Lexus LFA Nürburgring Edition and 2012 Lotus Exige S.
It'll be up for download on Xbox Live on Tuesday, Jan. 1, 2013 for 400 MS Points. As usual, if you have the Forza Horizon Season Pass you can get them all free, and Season Pass holders will also get a bonus car that's not pictured: the 2009 Pagani Zonda Cinque Roadster.
The Pagani is everything opposite to that Vandura, but while you might not ever win anything with the van, you can always use the back of it as a place to give out free hugs. Check out the video and press release below for more details.