2013 Lexus Rx 450h on 2040-cars

Auto blog

Lexus RC F Coupe puts on a brave face for Detroit

With less than a week to go until the 2015 Lexus RC F makes its debut at the Detroit Auto Show, Lexus has given us a sneak peek at its upcoming performance coupe. Earlier this week, Autoblog was granted were the opportunity for an intimate studio photo shoot with the RC F outside of the bright lights and big crowds sure to surround the coupe at Cobo Hall next week.
Compared to the hybrid version of the all-new RC we saw at the Tokyo Motor Show last year, the RC F has noticeably more aggressive styling. The cartoonishly oversized Lexus spindle grille gets a mesh insert pattern and is flanked by massive intakes in the lower fascia. To make room for what is expected to be a bigger V8 engine, the hood sits higher and is vented, but like many details about the RC F, Lexus is keeping the engine's size and output under wraps (although we have a sneaking suspicion it'll have 460 horsepower).
A trio of 19-inch wheel options will be available (including a set that is hand-polished), and the side sills and rear fascia have been modified for F duty. The biggest styling change on the RC F, however, is the LFA-inspired active rear wing that rises at speeds above 50 miles per hour for improved traction and stability. Carrying over cues from the current IS F, the RC F features air outlets behind the front wheel openings and angle-stacked exhaust outlets at the rear of the car.

Luxury car brands scrambling to avoid a blue Christmas

DETROIT — When financial markets surge to new records, sales of luxury cars usually rise, too. Instead, October U.S. auto sales reports on Wednesday showed that a collapse in sales of luxury sedans is accelerating. Consumers have gradually shifted over to luxury sport utility vehicles from sedans in the past decade, but the trend — which has occurred in both the non-luxury and luxury sedan segments of the auto market — was particularly pronounced in October. Sales of Daimler AG's Mercedes-Benz S-Class, long a global benchmark for large, premium sedans, plunged 49 percent in October, and are down 24.8 percent for the year to date. General Motors' Cadillac brand said it sold just 779 of its CTS sedans in October. Demand for that car, designed to compete with German luxury sedans, is down nearly 33 percent for the year. "There's still a significant portion of the market that wants a car, but I'm sure there were people who preferred a horse to a car at one point." Cadillac's best-selling model this year is the XT5 compact SUV, which has more than doubled sales from a year ago. The shift within the luxury vehicle market away from sedans toward SUVs of all sizes is forcing some of the most prestigious brands to scramble to add SUV models to their lineups or boost SUV production to meet demand. "In the short term, there will be pressure to add (consumer) incentives, cut production or both," said Cox Automotive analyst Michelle Krebs. "And we just don't see an end in sight to this trend." The Dow Jones Industrial Average has been trading at all-time highs, usually a good sign for luxury sedans, but as major automakers reported new U.S. vehicle sales for October on Wednesday, sales for passenger cars continued their slide while luxury SUV and crossover sales rose again. According to Kelley Blue Book data, in 2007 luxury sedans made up 7.6 percent of U.S. new vehicle sales, while luxury SUVs made up 4.2 percent. Through September this year, luxury SUVs made up just over 7 percent of the market, compared with 4.9 percent for luxury sedans. In the short term, luxury brands could use holiday season sales promotions to clear slow-selling sedans off dealer lots, analysts said. Toyota's Lexus brand said on Wednesday it will launch its "December to Remember" year-end sales promotion for the 18th straight year.

Lexus LQ flagship crossover due around 2022, so what of the LX?

When Lexus debuted the LF-1 Limitless crossover concept at the 2018 Detroit Auto Show, Lexus' U.S. general manager waited roughly six minutes to tell the world, as a way of hinting to HQ in Japan, "We have to build this vehicle." Car and Driver says the GM and his dealers will get their wish when the Lexus LQ crossover takes the top spot in the automaker's range in 2022. Underneath the "molten katana" design language that looks like an RX sent back from the future to kill an RX named Sarah Connor, we'll find the inner workings of the LS sedan, possibly including the luxury-specific TNGA-L rear- and all-wheel-drive platform. Engines could be ported straight from the LS stable for standard LQ models, meaning — for now — a 3.5-liter twin-turbo V6 with 416 horsepower and 442 pound-feet of torque, and a 3.5-liter V6 helped by two electric motors to produce a combined 354 hp. An LQ F or F Sport model could bolt up the impending twin-turbo V8 and cross the 600-hp mark. Numerous rumors over several years have clouded our view of what's planned for the pinnacle end of Lexus crossovers, though. In late 2018, whispers out of Japan claimed Lexus was working up a twin-turbo V8 with 660 horsepower for a production version of the LF-1 concept due to launch this year, with a milder V6-powered trim to make 424 hp. The V8 part came true, at least. Would an LQ cohabit with the LX as the luxury side of the flagship people-hauler coin? Or would they cohabit at all? Toyota insiders have said the next LX will turn into "an entirely different vehicle" and get far more luxurious, perhaps meaning the LX turns into the LQ. However, last October Lexus trademarked the LX 600 name, a Japanese magazine predicting a month later the next-gen LX would bow in 2021 on Toyota's truck-focused TNGA platform. And with the Toyota Land Cruiser going downmarket, jettisoning the LX would eliminate all those buyers looking for something big, luxurious, and conspicuously rugged.    Toyota has taken the time to trademark the LQ name in the U.S., Canada, France, and China, so dealer lots should clear up the mystery eventually. C/D thinks the entry-level LQ could start around $80,000, and since Lexus won't put its V8 into anything under $90,000, the top LQ trim could demand around $100,000. For comparison, the LS starts at $80,010 before destination, the LX at $86,480. Related Video: