Russia

Speaking of custom Lexus finishes, here’s a LX 570 from Russia done up in matte red:

Love the stealthiness of matte black, but don’t care for color matte, especially this red tone that looks like a high-quality rust primer.

[Via: Club Lexus]

When it comes to the release of the Lexus LS 460 AWD version, this picture says it all:

As expected, the LS 460 AWD was introduced at the Moscow International Auto Show today, and the folks at Autoblog have a full photo gallery of the model. The only thing? That AWD badge in the photo above is the only discernible difference from regular version.

That said, here are the more technical particulars:

The LS 460’s outstanding performance, sure-footed dynamic abilities and advanced active safety systems have been further strengthened by the addition of permanent all-wheel drive. The all-wheel drive system is a three differential configuration featuring a highly compact TORSEN® Limited Slip Differential (LSD) – shared with the LS 600h - which distributes drive torque between the front and rear axles with a 40:60 rear axle bias in torque distribution.

The LS 460 AWD will be on sale as from November.

It was only last week that we heard of Lexus’ plans to release an All-Wheel Drive version of the LS 460/L, and now it’s been confirmed for introduction at the Moscow International Motor Show:

The new model, to be sold along side the existing LS 460 and LS 460 L, features permanent all wheel drive system similar to the one found in the top-level LS 600h L. The AWD system uses three differentials and borrows the Torsen Limited Slip Differential from the LS 600h L to distribute power front and rear, for a 40/60 split.

The Moscow show opens August 28th (meaning more photos), with the LS 460/L AWD available to dealerships sometime during November.

[Source: Motor Trend]

Three stories out today about Lexus sales, and rather than post them all separately, I thought to just combine them.

First up, Toyota president Katsuaki Watanabe still expects to see a slight increase in 2008 sales over 2007, despite the recent downturn in sales. This makes for a large uphill battle, though, as Lexus sales were down almost 10% in both January and February.

This downward trend isn’t worldwide though, as sales in the United Arab Emirates as surged, with a whopping 68% increase in 2007 over 2006. This was mostly attributed to the release of the LS 460, and now with the LX 570 making its debut, Lexus is forecasting another 40% jump in 2008.

This leads right into the last story, where Russians are buying Lexus after Lexus, accounting for a quarter of all European sales in 2007. Again, with the addition of the LX 570, Russia is expected to replace Britain as the company’s largest European market by the end of this year.

Brandstudio, a Russian design firm, has been creating some wonderful websites for Lexus Russia, where each model has a separate Internet presence. Their latest work, for the GS 450h, is a incredibly interactive experience, though slightly confusing if you lack understanding of the Russian language.

Still, with the extensive use of video, and a very innovative interface, it’s fun to poke around and try and make sense of it all.

The other Lexus Russia websites by Brandstudio are brilliant as well, there’s one for the RX 350, and another for the IS.

[Via: The FWA]

Two GS Donut videos in one day? Seriously?

This second video continues on the grand tradition of Russian Lexus Destruction, only this time there’s blood and exploding rubber:

For the life of me, I don’t understand why the cameraman inside the car didn’t pull back when he started seeing sparks. Crazy Russians!