Next year Lexus will have a crack at the Audi A3 and BMW 1-series. You’ll see a concept version of the car at this autumn’s Frankfurt show. The big news is that, like the new RX SUV, it’ll be hybrid-only. Hybrid is to Lexus what high-boost diesel is to the Germans. Big performance, low thirst.
After that Frankfurt show appearance, the real thing will go on sale in late 2010, at a price below the IS diesel. Think £20,000-odd.
If you’ve seen the photos of Lexus’s HS250h you’ll probably be panicking by now. The HS250h is a rebodied, higher-performance Prius. It’s made for the US market, and was introduced at the Detroit show in January. It is hideous in profile (right), as you can see from this shot. Luckily, we won’t be getting it.
The new compact Euro-Lexus won’t share any body panels with the HS250h, and it will be a bit smaller. And of course it’ll be a hatchback. It will be FWD and based on the versatile new Prius platform.
Lexus hybrids are different from Toyota hybrids. They show an opposite way to ‘spend’ the efficiency gain of the system. A Prius is designed to get small-car economy from a bigger car. But Lexus hybrids all have higher performance than their standard counterparts.
Lexus has decided that it has to change its hybrid policy. The GS and LS hybrids aren’t making much headway. Andy Pfeiffenberger, Lexus chief in Europe, told Foreman, ‘Our hybrid saloons are going up against the V8 diesels in Europe. In future we need to compete against the four-cylinder diesels. So we will enter new sectors with low-displacement hybrids. The C-premium [i.e. Audi A3] segment is the fastest growing segment and we must be in it.’
After that Frankfurt show appearance, the real thing will go on sale in late 2010, at a price below the IS diesel. Think £20,000-odd.
If you’ve seen the photos of Lexus’s HS250h you’ll probably be panicking by now. The HS250h is a rebodied, higher-performance Prius. It’s made for the US market, and was introduced at the Detroit show in January. It is hideous in profile (right), as you can see from this shot. Luckily, we won’t be getting it.
The new compact Euro-Lexus won’t share any body panels with the HS250h, and it will be a bit smaller. And of course it’ll be a hatchback. It will be FWD and based on the versatile new Prius platform.
Lexus hybrids are different from Toyota hybrids. They show an opposite way to ‘spend’ the efficiency gain of the system. A Prius is designed to get small-car economy from a bigger car. But Lexus hybrids all have higher performance than their standard counterparts.
Lexus has decided that it has to change its hybrid policy. The GS and LS hybrids aren’t making much headway. Andy Pfeiffenberger, Lexus chief in Europe, told Foreman, ‘Our hybrid saloons are going up against the V8 diesels in Europe. In future we need to compete against the four-cylinder diesels. So we will enter new sectors with low-displacement hybrids. The C-premium [i.e. Audi A3] segment is the fastest growing segment and we must be in it.’
Source: Top Gear
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