Here is a Lexus concept by Esa Mustonen, a transportation design student in Lahti, Finland — after stumbling across this design on the Lexus Manila Facebook page, I asked Esa about his stunning coupe:

I love the current Lexus design language and I think one of the best looking cars at the moment is the LC500. So I wanted to have a go and try to design a Lexus concept myself. I wanted to try and soften the aggressive/striking Lexus lines they have currently on the cars. Also tried to keep the front relatively simple.

With the side I tried some unusual and futuristic lines with 2 main surfaces, the rear and the front surface.

This was an evolution of Esa’s earlier five-door coupe design from 2014, which we can watch him illustrate in this video:

Japanese website LOVE CARS has published a video tour of the Lexus LC assembly line at the Motomachi factory in Japan:

(It’s a rare thing to see this level of raw footage from inside a Lexus factory, and that makes this video pretty much the best.)

Automated Lexus vehicles will be part of a massive Toyota technology showcase at the 2020 Summer Olympics — from Hans Greimel of Automotive News:

Toyota calls its vision the “Mobility Teammate Concept,” evoking the idea that car and driver will be partners in autonomous driving, and that humans should dictate when they hand off control.

But there is still some technical legwork left before automakers can clear the safety hurdles and achieve truly hands-off, eyes-off self driving, [Toyota’s executive general manager in charge of autonomous driving Ken] Koibuchi said.

For starters, lidar sensors, not currently used in any Toyota production vehicles, will have to be a part of the picture, Koibuchi said. Costs are dropping rapidly for the high-tech laser scanners, meaning deployment will come in the “near future,” he added.

Japan is currently working with the automotive industry to map all of the country’s highways in high-definition, which will enable automated driving for the 2020 Olympics.

Koibuchi also had this to add about the new Lexus LS flagship sedan:

“We need to be cautious with the term ‘automated driving’ to avoid misunderstanding and overconfidence, such as the ​idea drivers do not need to do anything in automated vehicles,” said Koibuchi.

Still, Lexus touts the new LS, which arrives this fall, as the “safest car in the world.”

The updated 2018 Lexus NX has been keeping a low profile — outside of the usual CGI imagery and a single photo gallery from the Shanghai Motor Show, the refreshed model has been practically invisible.

That changed with a recent Lexus USA photo tweet, which shows the new NX F SPORT out for a cruise. The previous design didn’t really need too much tweaking, and with this update Lexus managed to modernize without going overboard — I see a healthy dose of last year’s IS sedan refresh in the changes.

(Show of hands — are you considering the 2018 NX when it arrives at dealerships this fall?)

Lexus Canada has released their first commercial for the LC coupe:

(Chief Engineer Koji Sato recently explained to me that the LC was directly inspired by music, comparing the shifting of gears to playing an instrument. In that way, a guitar makes perfect sense.)