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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:

2018 Lincoln Navigator vs luxury SUV rivals: How it compares on paper

The all-new 2018 Lincoln Navigator is an impressive, luxury-lined beast. However, while its Black Label interior stood out most during our first drive of the new Navigator, it also seemed pretty clear that much of this full-size SUV was superior to the competition in a number of fundamental ways. Its Raptor-sourced 3.5-liter V6 had class-leading power for one, and its third-row seat seemed as spacious and comfortable as its rivals' are cramped and barely usable. To search for your next new vehicle, try Autoblog' s Car Finder. Yet, I wanted to take a closer look at how the Navigator fully compares on paper to its competitors - especially the Cadillac Escalade with which it most directly competes. The below spreadsheet should tell the whole story, but as you can see, there's an awful lot of class-leading green highlighter in the Navigator's column. The cargo volume and third-row legroom numbers are particularly telling, with the latter actually going up to 42.3 inches when you slide the second-row fully forward. Now, a few things to note about the above spreadsheet. The GLS-Class is also available as the GLS 550, which boasts a 4.7-liter V8 that just comes up short to the Navigator with 449 horsepower but has to deal with only 5,578 pounds. Its $94,950 price tag is comparable to the Navigator Black Label. Much of the LX 570's information is also applicable to the Toyota Land Cruiser, which, badge aside, could certainly be considered a member of this segment given its feature content and still-hefty price tag. It has better ground clearance and approach/departure angles than its Lexus sibling, along with an as-indicated lower price. Much of the Escalade's information also applies to the GMC Yukon Denali, while the Infiniti QX80 is applicable to the Nissan Armada. Related Video: Cadillac Infiniti Lexus Lincoln Mercedes-Benz SUV Luxury Off-Road Vehicles consumer lincoln navigator

New Toyota Supra may get a twin-turbo Lexus V6

We've heard endless rumors that a successor to the much loved and much missed Toyota Supra is in the works. Toyota hasn't done much to deny these conversations. On the contrary, the FT-1 concept from two years ago and the partnership with BMW have only fueled the fire. Now, talk of a new Lexus engine has led to speculation about the supposed Supra's powertrain. To be clear, this is mostly heresay. Few things have actually been confirmed, but based on what we know a few conclusions can be drawn. We know that BMW and Toyota are working on a joint product. We've seen mules testing out in the wild. In BMW guise, the possibly Austrian-built car will more than likely powered by turbocharged inline four and six-cylinder engines. Unless Toyota wants to use Bimmer power, they'll need to shoehorn one of their own under the hood. That leads us to this rumor of a twin-turbocharged V6 that will presumably power the new Lexus GS and LS. Japanese automotive publication Mag-X first reported on this engine. It was then picked up by YouWheel and Car Keys. Mag-X cites Toyota insiders and even gives an engine code, 943F. This engine allegedly will make more than 400 horsepower and more than 300 lb-ft of torque. While unconfirmed, this makes sense for Lexus. Nearly every luxury competitor has a six-cylinder engine with forced induction. While Toyota has previously had turbocharged inline-sixes, they've never produced a factory turbo V6. Every automaker is downsizing engines in an effort to meet fuel economy and emissions regulations. Toyota and Lexus will follow suit. Taking that V6 and tuning it for a performance application is a solid, if unverified, possibility. Related Video: