Lexus Trademarks GX 400 in Japan

krew

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16-09-21-lexus-gx-400.jpg


Could Lexus be bringing the GX 400 from China to the Japanese market? Why?
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maiaramdan

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i think this meant for the next GA-L based GX
and i think this is the 4.0t been tested on the LS that seen before with the A8 & 7-Series
 

Tinhinnh

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GX is basically a luxury 4Runner, so why not? It will be more appealing with the lower pricing.
 

Lexus Cohen

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GX is basically a luxury 4Runner, so why not? It will be more appealing with the lower pricing.
The price doesn't need lower
GX is basically a luxury 4Runner, so why not? It will be more appealing with the lower pricing.
they don't need to lower the price any more, they need to focus on making it more appealing, and also more competitive.
 
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I own an 08 GX 470. It's got over 150k on the clock and figured it was time to move on especially because the rear A/C system has failed and will cost me near 3 grand as the Lexus dealer quoted me. I went to look at a 2014 GX and was incredibly disappointed. The car I sat in felt hilariously cheap. It was filled with horribly colored, scratched flimsy plastics. The leather was fake, but not even of good quality. 3 of the 5 cars there didn't even have HEATED SEATS. Like, are you kidding. Honestly my 08 GX is way better equipped. All the panels squeaked when I touched them, there were hard materials throughout in the 14. Honestly, the GX went backwards. The 03-09 is actually better built with better materials. I then sat in a new RX and was immediately impressed, and that car is about 5 grand cheaper and brand new. What was Lexus thinking. The current GX needs a serious makeover.
 

Ian Schmidt

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I haven't sampled a current GX, but yeah the new RX's interior is (literally) award-winning. I hope that's the start of a trend for Lexus.
 

Carmaker1

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Good bring back the GX! It fills in nicely between the RX and LX and has been selling better lately. Make it faster sexier and more fuel efficient!

With emphasis on lately, the GX is already trending downwards once again. They should've had a redesign ready by this fourth quarter or no later than summer 2017. Clearly they are behind once again.

i think this meant for the next GA-L based GX
and i think this is the 4.0t been tested on the LS that seen before with the A8 & 7-Series

While I agree this regards a redesign, I wouldn't guarantee it's a GA-L based product nor that the GX400 refers to any 4.0t. In fact, I strongly disagree with that assertion, as that LS mule may not have been equipped with a 4.0 litre engine or even V8.

There's nothing wrong with speculating that on a GA-L based replacement, as it's somewhat an educated guess. One thing is for sure, I don't believe "TX" is relevant as a trademark in being so old.

If we look back a few years ago, when Toyota trademarked "LX450d" and a trusted enthusiast in UZJ100GXR, it became a bit obvious that major facelift was coming to the LX in the second half of 2015. He turned out to be right.

Akio Toyoda is instrumental in the fact that the LX was introduced to Japan last year and many of the Nagoya product planners knew very well in 2012, that they could not domestically introduce a premium Lexus product that was not differentiated enough from the Toyota cousin and didn't want to wait until 2018-19 to do it.

I am expecting either a major update (a la MY2013 LS and MY2016 LX) to the GX during CY2018 that doubly eclipses the amount changes implemented with Spindle Grille facelift in late 2013 or uni-body redesign that maiaradan has hinted at based on the GA-L.

I am imagining that the redesigned Prado (180) could be introduced to North America under the 4Runner nameplate in 2018, for platform consolidation and the LX redesigned in CY2019. There's a really no need for a differing 4Runner design, when both the global Prado and 4Runner can be aligned into one vehicle, since both are already built in Japan. It is unlike that of the Hilux and Tacoma, which are built differently. Separating the Tacoma and 4Runner in the late 2000s did not help matters, which is why I vote for replacing the 4Runner with the 180-Series body.

Simply put, there is no way Akio Toyoda would approve the marketing and selling of the current URJ150 GX460 (nor a GRJ150 GX400) in Japan, as it currently is. It may be why the ES isn't even sold there (and much of the world) and why they waited until 2015, to offer the LX.

GX is basically a luxury 4Runner, so why not? It will be more appealing with the lower pricing.

I disagree, it is not exactly a "luxury 4Runner. They don't even sell the 4runner in Japan and the Hilux Surf was discontinued with the previous generation. It is a Lexus-badged Prado, with more luxury content, V8, and slightly better engineering.

There is a pattern (used primarily by Toyota/Lexus detractors) to align every Lexus to being a direct rebadge of a parallel Toyota counterpart, when that isn't always the case. Sharing some components doesn't equate to a "rebadge". A true rebadge is that of the 1996 LX450 or the 1998 Toyota Harrier and 1RX.

I only state this in relation to the UX now being called a rebadged C-HR, when that hasn't proven yet to be 100% correct. Using the same TNGA modular architecture doesn't entail that. The AZ10 NX uses only 10% of the RAV-4, yet many call it a RAV-4 rebadge.

It reminds me of how many people called the Infiniti FX35 a rebadged Nissan Murano in the early-mid 2000's, which was more inaccurate than even the NX/RAV-4 and UX/C-HR relations.
 
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maiaramdan

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@Carmaker1

i think with any of the normal 3 cases with the GX
*either the next generation will remain body on frame
#or the next generation will be on GA-L as a uni-body SUV to take the like of Cayenne , Levente & Bentayaga
#or there will be next generation named GX

under any case of the 3
there will always be Prado & 4-Runner
the role will be different though in any of the 3 cases

*if case 1 remains the role of 4-Runner will remain as the Tacoma SUV as the Fortuner to the Hi-Lux and the Prado will remain also as is as a cheaper multi engine of the GX
#if case 2 or case 3 the Prado will take the role of the GX in it's top level top engine but will be available as always with different engine variants
 

Carmaker1

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@Carmaker1

i think with any of the normal 3 cases with the GX
*either the next generation will remain body on frame
#or the next generation will be on GA-L as a uni-body SUV to take the like of Cayenne , Levente & Bentayaga
#or there will be next generation named GX

under any case of the 3
there will always be Prado & 4-Runner
the role will be different though in any of the 3 cases

*if case 1 remains the role of 4-Runner will remain as the Tacoma SUV as the Fortuner to the Hi-Lux and the Prado will remain also as is as a cheaper multi engine of the GX

#if case 2 or case 3 the Prado will take the role of the GX in it's top level top engine but will be available as always with different engine variants

No, that is just not the case with the 4Runner. The day Toyota designed to fully redesign it for the 2010 model year, is when the Tacoma and 4Runner went their separate ways. The Fortuner and Hilux are attached at hip, compared to the long distance relationship between the 4Runner and Tacoma.

The FT-4X trademark is a preview of the next generation 4Runner, not some resurrection of the FJ Cruiser like the stupid general media believe via Auto Guide speculation. Toyota hardly previews the Land Cruiser in the form of concepts, so that's out the window as an alternative theory.

Between the upcoming FT-4X concept and GX400 trademark, redesigns of the 4Runner and GX are coming in 2018. The TX was an old trademark, brought out of irrelevance by dumb journalists hunting through databases.