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Toyota may return to F1 under Lexus banner

A new report in from the website Club Lexus claims to have insider knowledge about a return to Formula One racing by Toyota, this time under the auspices of the Lexus brand. Toyota competed in F1 from 2002 through the 2009 season. That final year saw the team return competitive, if inconsistent results, but the larger economic woes in the automotive market made a decision to pull the plug relatively easy at the time.
Now, citing recent interviews with Toyota executives and insider sources, Club Lexus says that the move to re-enter F1 for the 2014 season is "all but finalized." The choice to go with the Lexus nameplate over Toyota makes some sense, too, considering the success that rival Infiniti has had in recent years through its partnership with Red Bull Racing. Further, the emerging Lexus identity as a performance car builder, with a strong background in hybrid vehicles, could help the F1 move resonate with buyers.
A few technological factors and formula changes within F1 offer some credence to the Lexus rumor, too. F1 will increase the available capacity of KERS from 60kW to 120kW, a change that theoretically benefits the hybrid-savvy Toyota. What's more, 2014 will see a switch from the current 2.4-liter V8 engines to 1.6-liter turbocharged V6s. A Lexus team that goes racing in 2014 will be on a level playing field with the rest of the grid then, with all teams adjusting to and continuing to develop the new engines.

These are the top luxury cars bought by people entering the segment for the first time

Let's say you just got a big promotion at work or the kids are moving out of the house, and you finally have some extra money. You decide to blow it all at once and treat yourself by upgrading your ride. Naturally, you look to a luxury automaker. What do you choose?
Models like the Audi A3 and Mercedes-Benz CLA-Class may be tailor-made to introduce buyers to the premium segment, but a new study finds that they don't garner the highest rates of non-luxury customer conquests. It turns out that a Volvo leads among folks moving up to a premium brand, and it isn't even one that's made anymore, at that.
A recent study by Polk and IHS Automotive looked at what models had the highest rates of buyers upgrading from a non-luxury segment. The information comes from its new vehicle registration data through April 2014. All ten top models boasted conquest rates of over 50 percent, but the Volvo C70 led the field with 68.01 percent of its customers coming from non-premium brands.

Lexus teases its fourth flagship model

Out of nowhere, Lexus has dropped a teaser for a new vehicle to be revealed very soon. And it sounds like it's not just any model addition. The company describes it in press releases as its fourth flagship and as a "one-of-a-kind." The other flagships the company refers to are the LS sedan, LC coupe and LX SUV. Unfortunately for us, it's darn difficult to tell what the teaser is of. All we can really make out are the colors of a dark bronze and piano black. There's also a silver cylinder just standing at the edge of the image. There aren't any lights or door handles or other visible vehicle parts. Still, since Lexus refers to it as a new flagship, we presume this teaser is of a new vehicle. While the brand may seem to have a full flagship lineup among the three aforementioned models, one of them is increasingly an outlier: the LX. While it is indeed a top-rung SUV, its body-on-frame construction and off-road capabilities make it less of a real on-road competitor to new flagship crossovers such as the new Audi Q8 and upcoming BMW X7. As such, we have a feeling the teaser could be to a flagship crossover, and it will probably be based on the LF-1 Limitless concept shown at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show. The company has already expressed a strong desire to produce something like it. It seems like a pretty safe bet unless this all turns out to be a corny branding exercise in which Lexus launches a cologne or stereo system inspired by its flagship cars. At least we won't have long to learn what the mystery product is, since the company said more information would come 24 hours after the teaser dropped. Related Video: Image Credit: Lexus Lexus Luxury lexus lf-1 limitless