Lexus LBX Megathread

F1 Silver Arrows

F1 Silver Arrows

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It should have been called the LBX F. On that note, I wish Lexus could have taken the BX name. I remember that's what the name was supposed to be a long time ago. Darn Citroen......
 
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spwolf

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Gecko said:
I think canning the F name is a very bad idea.

It takes forever and nearly endless budget to build brand recognition, and across F and F SPORT, Lexus was finally able to do that. Was it as good as M or AMG? No but after some of the earlier "performance" efforts like L-Sportline and L Tuned, I was hoping F wouldn't just look like another failure but rather be the moment where they realized success, and had something to build upon.

F could easily be the Lexus premium sub-brand of GR, and in a perfect world, Lexus F products should be the flagships of the GR portfolio, but...

...to @qtb007's point, I just don't understand what Lexus thinks their performance future looks like. Is the IS viable going forward? RC? Where is there any starting point to build performance products from, short of the rumored LFR which will be pie-in-the-sky expensive? Transverse drivetrains can be made more palatable with batteries and e-AWD, but Lexus sat on the bench for the last decade while the Germans developed high performance AWD systems, TT V8s, TTV8 hybrids, and more. BEVs? Sure I guess that might happen in the future, but Toyota is a ways off in battery development right now.

And from a marketing perspective, if they scratch F, what becomes of F SPORT, which is probably Lexus' single most popular option package? GR Sport? "GR" being the same thing that's on a Yaris or Corolla? Yes, those are cool products, but I don't know about 1) rebuilding the awareness of what "GR" means for Lexus buyers and 2) how that's going to work in a premium segment when the badges are worn by Toyota products.
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Quite possibly, they might keep F for some markets.
Like in Europe, there are not F-Sport LBX or NX... but there is RX 500h F-Sport.

It is weird.

Then again, in US, with TX, they do have F Sport packages.
 
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mediumhot

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Lol, just found out Morizo is Akios forum username. I heard about Morizo Toyotas but never knew the context of it.
How did this Morizo branding of an Lexus model actually clear the Lexus marketing department? How did they allow Toyota trim level brandname to be put alongside Lexus badge? And why RR? Why not Morzio F if it had to be Morizo?

Lexus US has put a lot of effort to branch out F branding into different tiers and some of them have even translated globally such as F Sport Design and F Sport. And now Akio's clique comes up with Morzio which is an insider Toyota thing but then they add up RR for .. don't' really know why.
 
dylanfoos

dylanfoos

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mediumhot said:
Lol, just found out Morizo is Akios forum username. I heard about Morizo Toyotas but never knew the context of it.
How did this Morizo branding of an Lexus model actually clear the Lexus marketing department? How did they allow Toyota trim level brandname to be put alongside Lexus badge? And why RR? Why not Morzio F if it had to be Morizo?

Lexus US has put a lot of effort to branch out F branding into different tiers and some of them have even translated globally such as F Sport Design and F Sport. And now Akio's clique comes up with Morzio which is an insider Toyota thing but then they add up RR for .. don't' really know why.
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I think it would of been the perfect opportunity to brand it as an “F” car… I would of had no problems with them naming it “Morizo” if we were actually getting news on upcoming “F” cars. But, all and all the car is very nice and wish it was coming to the states…
 
qtb007

qtb007

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mediumhot said:
Lol, just found out Morizo is Akios forum username. I heard about Morizo Toyotas but never knew the context of it.
How did this Morizo branding of an Lexus model actually clear the Lexus marketing department? How did they allow Toyota trim level brandname to be put alongside Lexus badge? And why RR? Why not Morzio F if it had to be Morizo?

Lexus US has put a lot of effort to branch out F branding into different tiers and some of them have even translated globally such as F Sport Design and F Sport. And now Akio's clique comes up with Morzio which is an insider Toyota thing but then they add up RR for .. don't' really know why.
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It isn't a production vehicle at this point. This was something that Akio wanted them to build for him, so he put his name on it. If it goes to market, it will probably get some different branding or do the normal Japanese thing of 2026 Lexus LBX-F Morizo Rookie Racing Edition Ver 1.0.

The RR most likely stands for Rookie Racing, which is Morizo's racing team where he runs a GR Supra, GR 86, GR Corolla, GR Yaris, Prius, and a few other pet projects.

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mediumhot

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qtb007 said:
It isn't a production vehicle at this point. This was something that Akio wanted them to build for him, so he put his name on it. If it goes to market, it will probably get some different branding or do the normal Japanese thing of 2026 Lexus LBX-F Morizo Rookie Racing Edition Ver 1.0.

The RR most likely stands for Rookie Racing, which is Morizo's racing team where he runs a GR Supra, GR 86, GR Corolla, GR Yaris, Prius, and a few other pet projects.
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If that's the case that makes it even worse. Cool, it's his conglomerate but by treating it like a fanboy is not something conglomerate leaders do. Just because you can override the board and name all of your products Akio doesn't mean you should. It's one thing to try to infuse emotion and humanize Toyota which has compliance appliance stigma attached to it, but you don't do that with Lexus. Lexus is your tier 1 luxury brand that many engineers and executives have sacrificed their lives to put it on that pedestal. You do not intervene into their business just because you can. What does Rookie Racing have to do with Lexus when Lexus has its own LexusRacing branch?

Officially I don't think we have the case of Akio going in for himself here. I just think marketing tripped over on this one, that's all.
 
qtb007

qtb007

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mediumhot said:
If that's the case that makes it even worse. Cool, it's his conglomerate but by treating it like a fanboy is not something conglomerate leaders do. Just because you can override the board and name all of your products Akio doesn't mean you should. It's one thing to try to infuse emotion and humanize Toyota which has compliance appliance stigma attached to it, but you don't do that with Lexus. Lexus is your tier 1 luxury brand that many engineers and executives have sacrificed their lives to put it on that pedestal. You do not intervene into their business just because you can. What does Rookie Racing have to do with Lexus when Lexus has its own LexusRacing branch?

Officially I don't think we have the case of Akio going in for himself here. I just think marketing tripped over on this one, that's all.
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I was joking about the name for when it goes to market. JDM cars have all sorts of crazy names; I was making a joke based on that. For example, Toyota actually named a car "1986 Toyota Sprinter Trueno Black Limited GT Apex Twin Cam 16" and another "1987 Toyota Crown Super Saloon Extra 2400 Turbo Diesel Ceramics Power Winning".

Again, this isn't a production car; it is a one-off. Akio wanted them to make an LBX with the GR Yaris powertrain. That particular car is called Morizo RR because it is his car and something that will likely have some tie in with his rookie racing team. They will maybe use it as a pace car or something like. If some similar spec does go to market, it will get a name that fits in with the Lexus strategy in Europe and Asia. It won't come to the US in any capacity since the platform isn't federalized for a regular LBX.
 
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Motor

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But don’t be fooled into thinking this is just a badge engineering job: it’s a very smart-looking thing, the interior feels as premium as any other compact crossover out there (just a shame about the very limited rear seat space), and it’s highly economical - if no more exciting to drive - thanks to its clever hybrid set-up.

All told it feels a very different proposition to the Toyota. As it should, given the almost £30k starting price, which may deter some of the younger, strapped-for-cash buyers Lexus is targeting. Perfect for those at retirement age who are downsizing from the old family RX, though.
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