Future

There’s an interesting column by Eddie Alterman at Car & Driver—I recommend reading the whole thing, but here’s some choice quotes:

...try to figure out what an IS F could possibly be doing next to an HS250h hybrid. Or why the LFA, a bona fide super-premium super-GT, looks like somebody’s old Supra that crashed into a JC Whitney parts warehouse…You’ll certainly leave wondering what it is that Lexus believes in.

The real answer to the question of Lexus’s product convictions is that it has none. It’s a fine mimic, but there’s no dynamic cohesion among its cars. However blasphemous this may sound to the car enthusiast, those great performance Lexuses represent the problem. They are elaborate ways of confusing the brand’s message and scattering its resources. What’s really killing Lexus is waywardness.

A business, especially a luxury-car business, should stand for something more than just best practices and profit taking. A great car company needs its own animating idea, expressed through the entire product line—a spirit that holds the enterprise together.

What I find most interesting about Alterman’s column is that he almost gets it—it’s right in front of him, but he takes a wrong turn and ends up at the wrong conclusion.

The answer is here in this audio interview with Lexus Head for Global Design, Simon Humphries:

Mr Humphries’ comments are strictly broad strokes, but there’s a lot that can be taken away—particularly when he says “Lexus is about changing, or redefining, the luxury experience”.

This sentiment is the very essence of the brand, the “animating idea” that Alterman is looking for. It’s the common thread that ties every Lexus model together. Alterman mistakes it for a “fine mimic”—Lexus is not copying, they’re improving.

It’s the pursuit of perfection.

It explains the very first LS 400 as much as it does the IS F or LFA, and it’s the reason behind every vehicle in the lineup. Most importantly, it’s been the brand’s slogan since its introduction in 1989—I’m surprised Alterman didn’t know about it.

[Source: Car & Driver & Lexus Magazine]

As part of their article on the Lexus LF-Ch today, German newspaper BILD did a little photochopping and came up with a blue production rendering, with real side mirrors and some minor softening of the front-end—I can see the production model retaining a variation on the concept’s grille, but think the front bumper will be see significant reworking.

View this image

With the Lexus SC 430 in its final months of production, our attention turns to what happens next—and Top Speed is more than happy to oblige with this rendering of the next-generation SC put together by photochopper Avarvarii:

This rendering hits a lot of the right notes—the next generation SC has a lot of potential depending on how much of the LFA’s design it borrows—and I especially like the LFA front-end with a more traditional grille. The rendering gets a little dull in the side profile and the rear, but the size is right if the 3SC is moved up to truly compete with the Mercedes SL & BMW 6-Series.

(I’m also hoping for a fixed-roof coupe along with a convertible, rather than one or the other.)

[Source: Top Speed]

Dutch website Autogespot has put together a photochop of a production Lexus LFA Roadster, merging elements of the final production car and the 2008 LFA roadster concept:

How far of a stretch would it be to expect an LFA Roadster to follow the LFA coupe? It would certainly help to recoup the V10 engine development cost, but there’s also the expense of developing a production roadster—along with usual price increase that goes along with having no roof.

Still, if Lexus has buyers for all 500 LFA coupes plus a waiting list, finding 500 buyers for a Roadster version may not be a stretch at all.

[Source: Autogespot (Thanks Safeer!)]

If you’re a regular TLE reader, you may remember the LF-Ch online survey that Lexus USA conducted last September—here are the final results:

Very clearly, the front-end design is a hit with the 3,281 voters—more than half liked a combination of the front and front 3/4 angles.

No surprises here—the LF-Ch is certainly sporty & aggressive. Interesting is the more negative reactions, with only 10% of respondants thinking that the concept was either busy & bulky or bland & dull.

This points the way to the production LF-Ch’s success—if it can keep the aggressive stance while maintaining the sporty front-end design (headlight & front grille), there’s going to be plenty of interest.

My thinking is that the production interior is going to take a lot of design cues from the concept—voting was much more spread out than with the other questions.

With the release of production LF-Ch/CT 200h spy shots, I would say this last question has been answered by default. It would have been nice to see a regional breakdown of voters in order to gauge North American interest specifically, but with the concept’s current USA autoshow tour, I’d say the probability is quite high that the CT 200h will be a worldwide vehicle, and not just limited to Europe & Japan.

[Via: Club Lexus (Thanks Oranji!]

Pistonheads has published some very interesting quotes from Lexus representatives at the Detroit Auto Show about possible applications of the LFA’s V10 engine:

“It’s not a straightforward job, because although the V10 is very compact its dry sump design means you have to find space under the bonnet for the oil tank,” said one insider. “That said, we do have two large sedans where the engine could possibly be made to fit.”

“We’ve already got a transmission that can handle the engine, in the shape of the 8-speed auto fitted to the IS-F. With its torque converter lock-up it would work very well in a car like this,” we were told.

“We’d need to be able to do a run of 5000 to 10,000 cars to make it feasible, and it wouldn’t be cheap. But with the LF-A we’re just starting to introduce very high performance as a Lexus brand value, so it’s natural that we will be looking at ways to develop this in future,” confirmed our informant.

It sounds like pure speculation, but it’s exciting nonetheless—I know from my own discussions with the Lexus people at the show that the high-revving LFA engine would be entirely unsuited for the LS lineup and its expected refinement, which would leave the GS as the only real Lexus model capable of handling the 552hp V10.

The big issue is the price—I was told the LFA engine could add upwards of $60-70k to the MSRP, which would push a potential GS-F over $100k and make it more expensive than a BMW M5 or a Mercedes E63. A tall order to be sure, and one that would require a significant rethink of the Lexus sports sedan.

And yet, as easy as it would be to dismiss the idea, the LFA itself is proof that anything’s possible. No one was expecting a $400k Lexus supercar, and yet only three months after its introduction, the entire production run has been spoken for. It’s for that reason that I’m not giving up hope on a GS-F, and from the sounds of the Pistonheads article, neither is Lexus.

[Source: Pistonheads]