Tragic Bronson
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Report: Lexus Three Row Crossover Still in Development
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Gecko
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Wow... very interesting.
Quite frankly, we've heard Lexus talk about ditching the appliance image for many years now, so I read that part of the interview and pay less attention.
Toyoda saying that the 3 row CUV is on hold is quite a big deal. I bet that does not make dealers very happy... at all.
Quite frankly, we've heard Lexus talk about ditching the appliance image for many years now, so I read that part of the interview and pay less attention.
Toyoda saying that the 3 row CUV is on hold is quite a big deal. I bet that does not make dealers very happy... at all.
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Gecko
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Everything I'm about to say is very hypothetical 
Interesting that the three-row crossover is being put on hold when the GX is due for a redesign in the next 12-24 months. If Lexus doesn't think they can get the aesthetic "right" or that a 3-row CUV is a "Toyota product," that seems like a nod towards the GX.
I've said for a while that if Lexus was to redesign the GX and have the base model be a 4x2 V6 - with 4X4 and V8 as options - they could expand it's popularity even more than what we've seen in the last two years. Making those two changes could theoretically bring the starting price for a GX into the mid 40s, just a tick above the MDX and QX60.
I do think that longer term, there will be a unibody 3-row vehicle, but perhaps Lexus has plans to allow the GX to continue to fill that space until they're damned good and ready with a unibody option.
(Possibly delays due to TNGA integration?)
Interesting that the three-row crossover is being put on hold when the GX is due for a redesign in the next 12-24 months. If Lexus doesn't think they can get the aesthetic "right" or that a 3-row CUV is a "Toyota product," that seems like a nod towards the GX.
I've said for a while that if Lexus was to redesign the GX and have the base model be a 4x2 V6 - with 4X4 and V8 as options - they could expand it's popularity even more than what we've seen in the last two years. Making those two changes could theoretically bring the starting price for a GX into the mid 40s, just a tick above the MDX and QX60.
I do think that longer term, there will be a unibody 3-row vehicle, but perhaps Lexus has plans to allow the GX to continue to fill that space until they're damned good and ready with a unibody option.
(Possibly delays due to TNGA integration?)
Black Dynamite
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Lexus continues to drop the ball on the big crossover segment.
Mercedes with their GL, now GLS and even GM with their Lambda SUVs are making bank, and Lexus acts like its not happening. I was there 12 years ago, in New York, when they released the HPX Concept with the 300HP V8 from the then new Lexus GS400.
It would've crushed the market. If anything, it was a couple of years ahead of the market, and the project was scrapped. 4 years later, Mercedes sends out the GL, after they probably got the idea from the HPX Concept, and they're still sending Lexus flowers for not following up on the RX's super-success, and leaving the top of the market wide-open. Mercedes can't built them fast enough.
What a shame.....
BD
Mercedes with their GL, now GLS and even GM with their Lambda SUVs are making bank, and Lexus acts like its not happening. I was there 12 years ago, in New York, when they released the HPX Concept with the 300HP V8 from the then new Lexus GS400.
It would've crushed the market. If anything, it was a couple of years ahead of the market, and the project was scrapped. 4 years later, Mercedes sends out the GL, after they probably got the idea from the HPX Concept, and they're still sending Lexus flowers for not following up on the RX's super-success, and leaving the top of the market wide-open. Mercedes can't built them fast enough.
What a shame.....
BD
GuoxJason
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The thing is that Lexus needs to come out with a smaller 7 passenger car for the buyers who dont want the LX due to its size. It is also said that the GX will be discontinued after this year so there is clearly a void that needs to be filled. This is the issue my family is facing with buying a car right now. We still want the third row but dont want a car as large as the LX.
Gecko
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Lexus has noted a few times that the GX is not going anywhere, as there is a loyal market of people wanting a body-on-frame luxury SUV. Looking at the sales success after its refresh, Lexus would be stupid to discontinue the GX.
Last, GX is one of Lexus highest profit margin vehicles.
I really don't think it's going anywhere any time soon.
mmcartalk
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The basic problem, though, is that, unless you are going to use the 3-row seat for more than just small children or packages, it's hard to get 7 full-grown or American-sized adults to fit into something smaller than a mid-size SUV without looking like a bag of pretzels inside. That's even more the case now that a number of SUVs have given up on the traditional boxy space-efficient styling. It's not necessarily impossible to do with newer designs, but was generally easier with traditional squared-off styling.
mmcartalk
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That's going to be an interesting situation, since Lexus planners have stated before that hey feel two separate truck-based, body-on-frame SUVs are not needed. At first, given the demand for the LX and Toyota Land Cruiser abroad (particularly in the Middle East) it was (supposedly) the GX that was going to be dropped. Now (apparently) somebody changed their mind, and they are going to keep the GX. So then, of course, that begs the question of what will happen to the LX...unless someone changed their mind again, and they are going to keep 2 BOF frame SUVs after all.
Gecko
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I've never read or heard this, ever. Do you have a source or link?
mmcartalk
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We had an article about it right here in this forum.....back when Lexus first considered that change.
https://lexusenthusiast.com/2013/07...gx-in-2016-replace-with-seven-seat-crossover/
Gecko
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Just to be clear, Mark Rechtin is an Automotive News writer - not a Lexus planner - and Brian Smith's comments hypothetically talk about adding a three row crossover to the mix, and say that one of the two existing BOF SUVs could convert to unibody:
Quite frankly, in 15 years, I do not think there will be BOF SUVs in the lineup, but looking at the near term, I really do not think that Lexus is considering switching either to unibody - for various reasons. I expect to see another CUV added with a new name, positioned above the RX.
"Smith says one of the brand’s two large body-on-frame SUVs, the GX and LX, could be converted to unibody platforms as the auto maker works to meet looming government-imposed fuel-economy regulations.
“In the future, if we could do a 3-row unibody (utility vehicle), I think that’s what consumers would want to see,” he says.
That can be taken any number of ways, but the article was published two and a half years ago and is pretty out of touch now. There has been more recent commentary from Lexus stating that both the GX and LX have core markets and loyal consumers looking for BOF construction, and that they're both extremely profitable products. “In the future, if we could do a 3-row unibody (utility vehicle), I think that’s what consumers would want to see,” he says.
Quite frankly, in 15 years, I do not think there will be BOF SUVs in the lineup, but looking at the near term, I really do not think that Lexus is considering switching either to unibody - for various reasons. I expect to see another CUV added with a new name, positioned above the RX.
mmcartalk
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You're correct that there has been huge amount of speculation on that issue, and and endless number of articles, but not necessarily any that can be traced directly to Lexus execs. Maybe I should have used a different term than "Lexus planner". But it's an issue that has been all over the place in a number of forums....not just this one.
I myself am of the opinion that, usually, the more choices a customer has, the better. But economic and budgetary realities, of course, often limit what a company is able to offer.