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2022 Lexus GX gets big infotainment update, Black Line Special Edition

The 2022 Lexus GX mostly soldiers on with the same old platform and powertrain as before. But it is finally getting a pretty major infotainment update to help modernize it. Not only that, but it's getting a Black Line edition like other Lexus models with the lovely Nori Green Pearl paint available. That infotainment upgrade is the addition of a 10.3-inch touchscreen. It should be much brighter, higher resolution and more pleasant to use than the quite-old existing unit. It's also accompanied by a revised center stack with more minimalist buttons and switches. The actual infotainment operating system also appears to be from other Lexus models, rather than the one shared with Toyotas. The evidence for this is in the inclusion of the unloved track pad, but you're unlikely to use it much with the prominent touchscreen. Besides the physical infotainment improvements, it also comes with a few feature upgrades. The new system comes with Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility, something that was sorely missing in the previous model year. Navigation is also now standard as are parking sensors and power folding and heated mirrors. Then there's the Black Line Special Edition pictured at the top. Like other Black Line Lexus models, it's mostly a color and trim package, but a fairly attractive one. It comes with gloss black 18-inch wheels, grille surround and roof rails. The door handles are body color, and the bumpers are slightly tweaked design-wise. The taillights are red, rather than clear, and the trim gets an exclusive available color in the aforementioned Nori Green paint. Inside, the GX Black Line has a black headliner, black and grey upholstery, and matte black Ash wood trim. Pricing and availability hasn't been announced yet, but we expect it to go on sale later this year. Related video: This content is hosted by a third party. To view it, please update your privacy preferences. Manage Settings.

Optimistic Lexus bumps US sales target higher

Last year Lexus sold 244,166 cars in the US, slotting into third place in the luxury segment behind BMW and Mercedes-Benz. Earlier this year Lexus said its target was 260,000 units in the US (which would still put it behind BMW's and Mercedes' numbers from last year), but Automotive News reports that it has raised its upper outlook to 270,000 cars.
The half-year pace hasn't been enough to make either number, but Lexus is gunning for a 15-percent gain in IS sales behind the arrival of the 2014 model, and this is also the first full year of sales of the new ES and LS. Lexus will most likely end the year in third place in the luxury segment behind BMW and Mercedes again, even if it does sell 270,000 units, but has said its prime directive is "good, steady growth."

Tesla says Model 3 is best-selling midsize premium sedan in America

Auto sales figures are sort of fuzzy numbers, no matter how you slice them and no matter which manufacturer you're talking about. Unless you're specifically tracking vehicle registrations, automakers generally self-report the figures. So, you have to trust that they aren't doing anything too tricky. Plus, not every sale is equal, as some are logged as dealership loaners or demo models, some go to fleets (like to a rental car agency), and still others are, of course, bought by traditional customers looking for a new daily driver. With that preamble out of the way, when we saw a tweet from Tesla claiming that the all-electric Model 3 is the best-selling midsize premium sedan in America, our interest was piqued. According to Tesla, market share of the Model 3 has just surpassed the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, which had up until now led the Audi A4, BMW 3 Series, and Lexus IS as the best-selling sedan in its class. Note that the graph from Tesla below is, we think, specific to four-door models. So, is it true? Judging by the numbers we can find, including some from Bloomberg, which has a running chart to track Model 3 registrations, the answer is... probably. We don't know exactly how many Model 3 sedans Tesla is currently cranking out, but Bloomberg estimates production at about 2,560 units per week, and total sales for 2018 at 34,414. We know the number is increasing regularly, though, and Elon Musk has said most recently production sits around 500 units per day, which, on a seven-day cycle, would be 3,500 per week. We looked up Mercedes' sales figures for the month of May, 2018, and found that the German brand sold 5,419 C-Class models last month, for a total of 23,917 for the year (incidentally, that's down more than 30 percent from the year prior). While the bulk of those sales would surely be made up of sedans, it would also include a small percentage of coupes. Either way, it's likely that Tesla is currently producing and selling more Model 3s than Mercedes is C-Classes. Now, it's also worth considering if the C-Class is the only vehicle from Mercedes that directly competes with the Model 3. We'd guess customers may also cross-shop the CLA sedan with the Tesla, and if that's the case, you might decide it's worth adding in Mercedes' 2,527 CLA-Class sales last month and 9,622 so far for the year. The same argument could be made for certain versions of the BMW 2 and 4 Series.