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Lexus to debut small hybrid CUV at 2014 Geneva Motor Show

Following rumors that Lexus has been working on a small crossover to slot below the RX (pictured), Automotive News Europe reports that the production-ready CUV will bow at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show next March. Later this year, Lexus will preview this new crossover by way of a concept car at the Tokyo Motor Show in November.
According to the report, this new crossover will be a hybrid, and will ride on the smaller architecture that underpins the Toyota RAV4. Specific details have not been confirmed, but AN states that the entry-level CUV will be powered by the same 2.5-liter gasoline-electric drivetrain found in the Lexus ES 300h. Since Toyota will evidently be taking the time to hybridize the platform, we can't help but assume that it will eventually build a second-gen RAV4 EV.
Either way, with the small luxury CUV segment heating up, Lexus is likely smart to offer a player in this space. Until now, there has not been a Lexus crossover below the RX, and this new model will compete with other new players in the class including the BMW X1 and Audi Q3.

Lexus pushing upmarket as others move down, LF-LC production hinted [w/video]

Jeff Bracken, Lexus' US group vice president and general manager, knows his company lost its position as America's biggest luxury brand back in 2011, and it's a mantle that his employer probably won't be getting back any time soon. That's because Lexus is electing not to follow the luxury segment's downmarket trend any more than its $32,500 CT 200h hybrid hatchback. "Since we won't be going down below $30,000, it will be very difficult for us to ever regain luxury leadership," Bracken admitted on Autoline After Hours late last week.
Rivals Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi all have new low-end entries on sale or in the wings to entice new buyers and fortify their CAFE scores, but Lexus has Toyota and Scion to capture sales underneath its lineup. Instead, Bracken hints that Lexus is going upmarket and higher-performance, fueling ongoing rumors of a LFA successor, or perhaps a new offering based on the lauded 2012 LF-LC coupe concept shown above, a production version of which could also slot in where the unloved SC convertible left off. "We need to begin bringing to market luxury performance... higher performance vehicles. IS-F certainly was the beginning of that, maybe on the lower end," says Bracken.
Later in the online video interview show, Bracken gets even more candid:

Lexus to replace GX SUV with new TX crossover

There's been a lot of news regarding future Lexus products recently, including spy shots of new RC coupe and NX compact crossover, and reports that a 2+2 coupe based on the LF-LC concept is heading for production. Now, Automotive News says that Japan's #1 luxury automaker is planning to replace the fullsize, body-on-frame Lexus GX SUV with a three-row crossover called the TX.
The article says that the GX, which is based on the foreign-market Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, will get a styling update for 2014 before being phased out in 2016. In a similar move as Infiniti made with its new three-row JX/QX60, the new TX will be car-based, but details are still unknown as to whether it will be front-wheel-drive riding on the Toyota Avalon platform or rear-wheel-drive using the Lexus GS platform. Either way, this new luxury crossover could join the Lexus lineup as soon as late 2016.