USA

Lexus USA has reported 17,420 total sales for January 2019, a 2.8% decrease over last year — here’s the model-by-model breakdown:

Please note, all percentages are calculated by the Daily Sales Rate (DSR), which takes into account the number of days in the month that dealerships could sell cars. March 2018 had 27 selling days, March 2017 had 27 selling days.

Lexus USA has announced the NX 300 F SPORT Black Line edition, bringing a new appearance package and one major upgrade to the crossover.

Outside, the standard NX F SPORT is upgraded with forged 19-inch chrome wheels and a printed carbon fiber graphic along the doors. Three colors will be available: Ultra White, Obsidian and Atomic Silver. The interior is outfitted with two-tone F SPORT Arctic White and Black NuLuxe sport seats, a black headliner, unique floor mats, cargo mat, and matching key gloves. A photo of the interior was not shared.

But the centerpiece is the stereo — a Mark Levinson 14-speaker, 835-watt audio system is available on the crossover for the first time, and will be exclusive to this package.

The NX F SPORT Black Line will be limited to 1,000 units when it starts arriving at dealerships in February. The front-drive version will retail for $49,600, with all-wheel drive bumping the cost to $51,000 including destination charges.

Autocar spoke with a source inside Lexus about the possibility of plug-in hybrids:

Lexus will be able to adapt many of its hybrid powertrains to feature plug-in tech “relatively easily” if the market demands it, according to a source at the firm. The Japanese maker is convinced that its self-charging hybrid system is perfectly placed to take advantage of the Europe-wide shift away from diesel, but accepts that PHEVs are likely to play a greater role in the future.

In a way, this seems almost too obvious — Toyota has already developed a plug-in hybrid powertrain for the Prius Prime, and reworking the technology for other models takes no great imagination.

But it begs the question, if adapting the tech is so easy, why hasn’t it been done already? Why are Toyota (and by extension, Lexus) lukewarm on plug-in hybrids? PHEVs may be a stop-gap between hybrids and pure-electric vehicles, but it’s an attractive option for people wanting the benefits of battery power while keeping the safety net of gasoline engines.

Earlier this month, my family had a fun night planned — my daughter was scheduled to dance at a dinner celebrating the birthday of Scottish poet Robbie Burns, and all week we looked forward to the event. Just hours before, a cold system swooped in and dumped a blanket of snow over the region. We couldn’t go.

Shortly after, while I was out on an errand run, some bro in a Ford F150 abandoned all sense, gunning around the corner of an intersection where I sat waiting at a red light. His tires lost traction, his truck pirouetted in slow motion, and the bed of his truck came inches away from my driver door. He jumped the curb, drove over the sidewalk and sped away.

Then it was more snow, and more snow. Walking to the car in a mall parking lot, I couldn’t find my gloves in any of the fifteen pockets of my parka. Fumbling, I slid on a patch of ice, my feet bobsledded under the car and I almost smashed my face into the side mirror.

Bad luck abounds, it comes in bunches. By pure accident, I was caught driving in a whiteout, the snow whipping across the car so badly I could feel the wind’s desire to push us into a ditch. I pulled over until the worst of the weather subsided, and I white-knuckled it home, never breaking 30 miles an hour.

Winter is here, and it sucks. No matter the vehicle, no matter the tire, no matter the tech, the dangers are real and ever-present. Stay safe out there, my friends.

This IS 300 AWD was made possible by the folks at OpenRoad Lexus Richmond, the premier Lexus dealership in British Columbia and a proud sponsor of Lexus Enthusiast.

The Lexus RC F Track Edition will not be a “one and done” model, according to a Motor1 interview with Cooper Ericksen, vice president for product planning and strategy at Lexus USA:

“The plan right now is to build 60 [RC F] Track Editions…and it’s going to be 40 of the white and 20 of the matte gray [cars for 2020],” Ericksen said. “It’s [our] intention to have a version of the Track Edition in subsequent [model] years.”

What the future holds for the Track Edition, however, remains up in the air, and the Lexus VP shared that the Japanese luxury brand is brainstorming everything from changing up the model’s color options to altering its performance.

“We’re having fun with the engineers to figure out what [Track Edition] can look like in the future.”

The development costs of the RC F TE must have precluded a limited run similar to what Lexus is doing with the Inspiration Series line of vehicles, and that’s a good thing — building a sub-brand under Lexus F would allow for varying degrees of performance at the top-end of the lineup.

(Just imagine the Track Edition of a theoretical LC F coupe — carbon fiber hood, giant carbon fiber wing, carbon ceramic brakes. Oi.)