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Marton Pettendy19 Jul 2014
NEWS

Lexus LF-LC set for production

Larger LC coupe to follow this year's new RC; smaller SUV could follow NX

Lexus has confirmed the radical LF-LC coupe concept for production in 2016, as part of an ambitious expansion plan including a new model every year until 2020.

According to Autocar, the Lexus product onslaught could also include an all-new compact SUV positioned below the upcoming NX that debuted the Toyota group's first turbo-petrol engine, which will also power the IS and GS sedans and RC coupe.

“The production LF-LC will not be huge volume [car] for Lexus, but it will bring huge emotion,” said Lexus Europe vice-president Alain Uyttenhoven at the European launch of the NX.

“Every year there will be a new model for Lexus, either a volume car like the NX or a model to boost brand image [like the LF-LC].”

While the NX arrives here in 300h hybrid form late this year, followed by the 200t turbo in early 2015, it will be followed by the all-new mid-size IS-based RC 300 V6 and RC F V8 coupe and a full-blown F version of the large GS sedan.

But the LF-LC, which is expected to reach production as the LC, will hog most of the Lexus limelight, as a new flagship sports model that follows in the footsteps of the limited-edition LFA supercar and the discontinued SC coupe.

Uyttenhoven told Autocar the production version of the large 2+2-seat coupe, which he has seen, was at least 90 per cent identical to the LF-LC concept that debuted at the 2012 Detroit motor show, since Toyota chief Akio Toyoda “doesn’t want the production car to look any different from the concept”.

Believed to be based on a shortened version of the top-shelf LS limousine, the LC coupe is expected to be priced from around $150,000 and powered by a revised version of the RC F's naturally aspirated 5.0-litre V8 pumping out 354kW and 3.5-litre V6 hybrid system generating at least 373kW.

Meantime, although he stopped short of confirming it for production, Uyttenhoven said the launch of a Lexus SUV smaller than the RAV4-based NX was “not impossible” and such a model “made sense” for the brand.

Uyttenhoven said European, Chinese and Japanese market tastes were likely to converge and lead to the development of smaller models. Around 60 per cent of premium models sold in Europe already cost less than 40,000 euros ($A57,765).

A downsized and diversified model range would prevent Lexus from relying so heavily on North America, where about half of its 500,000-plus annual global sales come from.

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