Lexus to Unveil Small CUV Concept in Frankfurt
Carved metal surfaces can be found inside the vehicle, along with a yellow-and-black color scheme and blue interior lighting.
September 4, 2013
Lexus will stage the world debut of a small cross/utility vehicle at next week’s Frankfurt auto show.
While it isn’t promising a production version, Toyota’s luxury brand says the LF-NX “explores the potential for a compact crossover within (its) model range.”
Details are scarce on the concept, but Lexus promises the latest version of its hybrid technology, geared for SUVs, will power the LF-NX.
The signature Lexus spindle grille is present on the CUV, but gets a “strong interpretation,” the brand claims.
“An aggressive vertical cut” separates the front bumper from the front wing, and in the rear downward-projecting lamp clusters create a “sharp, aerodynamic trailing edge to the vehicle which mirrors the front wing detailing.”
Other LF-NX design cues include wheel arches trimmed in black and a sharply raked tailgate.
Carved metal surfaces can be found inside the concept CUV, along with a yellow-and-black color scheme and blue interior lighting.
Lexus long has considered entering the compact CUV segment, which includes such models as the Audi Q5, BMX X3 and Mercedes GLK. A stumbling block has been the desire not to cut into sales of the Lexus RX CUV, a former Lexus U.S. official told WardsAuto, as well as not to overlap the RX on pricing.
“The RX covers a big swath of the marketplace,” former Lexus General Manager Mark Templin said in May 2012. “We compete with a lot of those smaller CUVs on price point, so we look like a really good value.”
Also at Frankfurt, Lexus will show for the first time in Europe the new GS 300h hybrid sedan.
The GS 300h, which debuted at the Shanghai auto show in April, employs the 2.5L 4-cyl. gasoline engine from the IS 300h already on sale in Europe.
Neither the GS 300h nor IS 300h will be sold in the U.S., Lexus has said.
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