2007 Lexus Ls 460 L on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lexus previews production NX crossover ahead of Beijing debut

Every luxury automaker and its sister company is getting into the compact crossover game these days. Mercedes has the GLK and even smaller GLA, Audi has the Q3, BMW the X1... even Porsche is getting in on the action with the new Macan. Lincoln has the new MKC, and it won't be long before Infiniti and Acura launch challengers of their own. But before they do, Lexus will roll out its new NX crossover.
Previewed by the LF-NX concepts first in Frankfurt and then in Tokyo, leaked in a corporate presentation and spied testing out on the open road, Lexus is slated to present the production NX at the Beijing Motor Show later this month. But to keep us on our toes, the Japanese luxury automaker has released this teaser image and brief statement.
From the looks of it, it appears that Lexus has hardly toned down for production the anime-worthy sharp creases that made the LF-NX stand out on the show floor, with the brand's signature spindle grille featuring prominently once again. Though we'd guess the finished product will be toned down somewhat. Toyota's luxury division also says "the NX will set new standards for future models in the line-up," meaning that we can expect the design theme to carry through to more models to follow.

Production Lexus NX small CUV headed for Geneva

Just five months ago, our spy photographers caught what appeared to be a mule for the forthcoming Lexus NX crossover with the body of a CT 200h for disguise. Then the LF-NX Concept CUV debuted at the Frankfurt Motor Show (it showed up at the Tokyo Motor Show as well) with a massive spindle grille and an extreme version of Lexus' sharp-edged new styling language on full display. Now Auto Express reports that a production version of the LF-NX concept will grace the Geneva Motor Show next March and go on sale next summer. If the names that Lexus trademarked a while back are any indication, it'll come in two trims, NX 200t and NX 300h.
Concept vehicles often look outrageously bold, with more extroverted styling than what eventually makes it into the production version. But Lexus reportedly will leave much of the LF-NX concept's styling alone for the production version, citing its customers' changing tastes.
"What we're finding is that these days customers want to be more expressive, so a lot of the concept's inherent design will come out in the finished car," says Paul Van der Burgh, Lexus' European director. "Why would you want something that looked like everything else in the segment?"

40+ cars that barely avoid the gas guzzler tax

The Gas Guzzler schedule, with mpg ratings and charges that haven't changed since 1991, lays out which fuel-swillers owe what to Uncle Sam.
I started thinking about the "Gas Guzzler Tax" - considerably less well known as The Energy Tax Act of 1978 - when I was driving Dodge's new Challenger SRT Hellcat last week. Unsurprisingly for a car that can burn 1.5 gallons of gas per minute at max tilt, theoretically able to empty a full tank of premium in about 13 minutes, the Hellcat will be subject to the Gas Guzzler Tax schedule when it goes on sale.