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2023 Lexus GX makes do with small changes

Toyota leaves its hardcore SUVs to ripen on the vine for long spells. That means that in comparison with the rest of the luxury segment, Lexus SUVs are nearly fermented by the time the make way for the new harvest. Each year gets its small updates, though, Lexus announcing the fiddling its done on the 2023 GX 460. Last year saw a larger roster of changes, including a Black Line edition like other Lexus models with available Nori Green Pearl paint, a long overdue update to the infotainment system that saw the installation of a 10.3-inch touchscreen atop a revised center stack with more minimalist buttons and switches, Android Auto and Apple CarPlay compatibility, plus standard navigation, parking sensors, and power folding and heated mirrors. For 2023, the Black Line returns with new standard kit and a production cap of 3,000 units. Available on the Premium trim, there's a darker finish on the grille and surround, the fog lamp surrounds and skid plate. The roof rails and shark fin are painted black, and instead of red taillights, there are clear lights with black inserts. The package sits on exclusive 18-inch gloss black wheels. Inside, a black headliner lords over Boulder Gray NuLuxe-trimmed seats, black matte ash wood trim, and contrasting gray stitching. The special edition comes with Panoramic View Monitor thrown in as well. The color palette shrinks by one hue, Claret Mica going away. Starfire Peal also disappears, but it's been replaced by Eminent White Pearl. The top Luxury trim — above base and Premium —picks up Mark Levinson Premium Surround Sound Audio as standard equipment.  Prices are slightly higher than last year. The base 2022 GX 460 has gone up $300 to $57,575 after destination, Premium trim also $300 more dear at $58,910, the Luxury trim up by $1,445 to $68,230. Two years ago, Toyota filed a trademark application in Costa Rica for a Lexus GX 550. The global market Toyota Land Cruiser Prado that the GX is based on is anticipated to get a next-generation model next year, perhaps with the option of the 3.3-liter twin-turbo V6 found in the new Land Cruiser. Whenever the revamped Prado debuts, an all-new Lexus GX shouldn't be far behind. 

US buyers show little interest in big hybrids

The idea of producing large, luxury-vehicle hybrids is turning into a "what were they thinking?" exercise in futility, USA Today reports. General Motors is discontinuing hybrid versions of the Cadillac Escalade, Chevrolet Tahoe and GMC Yukon SUVs, while Mercedes-Benz and Toyota's Lexus division are doing the same with their S-Class hybrid and LS hybrid sedans, respectively. The culprit? Big price increases for fuel economy improvements that border on the unimpressive. Granted, the Escalade hybrid gets 31 percent better fuel economy than the standard version, but that still maps out to a combined fuel-efficiency rating of just 21 miles per gallon. That can be seen as a worthwhile increase, if it didn't cost over $8,000 extra. The 2014 Escalade Hybrid, for example, starts at $74,425 while the non-hybrid can be had for $66,295. Meanwhile, the Lexus full-size hybrid costs $6,000 more than the regular version but only gets 1-2 mpg better combined fuel economy. The result of all these high costs? Low sales. Through April, GM sold 82 of its hybrid SUVs and pickups, down from 541 a year earlier. And the LS hybrid sales were in single-digit territory for April. That isn't stopping Lexus from promoting its hybrids as the right solution (with the wrong facts), though. There are still automakers giving big hybrid vehicles a shot, though. Nissan's Infiniti division is selling a hybrid version of its QX60 and says an impressive 10 percent of QX60 buyers choose the hybrid, which costs just $3,000 more. Looks like money talks. Featured Gallery 2015 Cadillac Escalade: First Drive View 35 Photos News Source: USA TodayImage Credit: Copyright 2014 Brandon Turkus / AOL Green Infiniti Lexus Mercedes-Benz Hybrid lexus ls gmc yukon mercedes-benz s-class infiniti qx60 chevrolet tahoe

Lexus LS mid-cycle refresh to restore V8-powered LS 600h hybrid?

When Lexus launched the fifth-generation LS at the end of 2017, the Japanese luxury maker predicted its once-brand-defining sedan would sell 12,000 units per year in the U.S., a threshold the model hadn't reached since 2010. The LS managed 9,301 transactions here in 2018, its first full year on sale, falling back to 5,528 units in 2019. Through the first three coronavirus-affected months of this year, Lexus dealers have sold 801 LS sedans, compared to 1,404 units in Q1 2019. There's a mid-cycle refresh supposedly due for release in the fall of 2021, and the June issue of Japanese magazine Mag-X (translated), via Lexus Enthusiast, claims we're due for a couple of big surprises that could jolt the sales figures. The first shock is that Lexus is supposedly bringing back the LS 600h moniker for an LS with a V8 hybrid powertrain.  Lexus debuted the LS 600h L in 2007 for the 2008 model year, retiring the hybrid trim in 2016. Its heart was a 5.0-liter naturally aspirated V8, and when combined with an electric motor, combined output came to 439 horsepower and 385 pound-feet of torque. The fifth generation introduced the LS 500h that switched to a naturally aspirated 3.5-liter V6, producing a combined 354 hp and 369 lb-ft., taking second place in output to the twin-turbo V6 in the non-hybrid LS 500 with 416 hp and 442 lb-ft. If Lexus were to double back to a V8 after experimenting with a V6 hybrid for four years, some question which V8 would get the nod. The old V8, codenamed 2UR-FSE and still in use in the Lexus LC as the 2UR-GSE, dates back 14 years and is scheduled to retire in two years when the LC-F introduces Lexus' new twin-turbo V8. According to leaked dealer information, that's the same year Toyota and Lexus will stop offering V8 engines in any model with an MSRP under $90,000. Toyota has shied away from turbocharged hybrids, but the next-generation Tundra could change that if rumors of the 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 i-Force Max engine come true. A twin-turbo V8 LS hybrid would rocket the model back to the top of the range in performance and price, and we could see it breaking the "F" seal on the LS lineup, since it would run counter to everything the German competitors are doing with their standard flagship sedans. Or Lexus could remove the turbos for a better compromise of potency and frugality.