[Lex Luther]

Rumor has it that Lexus is going to be debuting a compact luxury car next month. Australia website Motoring is reporting that Lexus will debut a B-segment compact car that will rival vehicles, like the Audi A1. A production-approved model wouldn't come to market until 2018.

Lexus Rumored to Debut Compact City Car Next Month » AutoGuide.com News

 

[soarer]

Great move on their part, there has been some slow growth within this segment for some time but from what i have noticed in the recent past is it's growing, more of them on the road

 

[spoonful]

heard it ight be a CT200 sedan...

 

[Lex Luther]

This type of vehicle has appeal for many urban customers. It is a limited market though. The car really only caters to a select type of person. I think that it can be a success if they do a good job. I only say that because there have been many examples of bad city cars in the past.

 

[Odetta]

It might just be a fancied Yaris with a pretty Lexus mug.

 

[soarer]

It might just be a fancied Yaris with a pretty Lexus mug.

i hope it's more than that
they have come a long way with shared models, the current Camry and ES makes for a good example of this.

 

[Lex Luther]

Lexus models don't strike me as simply fancy Toyotas. I don't think that they would do that here. If it is based on the Yaris, I think they will do a good job of differentiating it.

 

[spoonful]

whatever it is...

 

[soarer]

Lexus models don't strike me as simply fancy Toyotas. I don't think that they would do that here. If it is based on the Yaris, I think they will do a good job of differentiating it.

Years ago that was the case, but these days there's a much bigger divide between the two, the former just wouldn't fly in today's really competitive industry.

 

[spoonful]

Years ago that was the case, but these days there's a much bigger divide between the two, the former just wouldn't fly in today's really competitive industry.

Years ago though Lexus were simply rebadged JDM Toyotas, there was no market overlap and no one was the wiser. Which is the large difference between what Lexus does and what GM does...

 

[soarer]

Years ago though Lexus were simply rebadged JDM Toyotas, there was no market overlap and no one was the wiser. Which is the large difference between what Lexus does and what GM does...

That's what I liked about Lexus and Toyota even years ago, there was still some great differences with their american models from both brands.

 

[Mickey]

It might just be a fancied Yaris with a pretty Lexus mug.

Yeah, I agree with that one. Especially since they are targeting the compact market.

 

[Lex Luther]

Yeah, I agree with that one. Especially since they are targeting the compact market.

But the Toyota would be using the same thing for Toyota, Scion and Lexus. They would just put some different badges on them. I hope that they don't get lazy and make sure that each model is unique and good on its own merits.

 

[soarer]

that sort of lazy won't cut it these days
and that teaser sort of proves to me they haven't conformed to that laziness, but of course that was only a teaser, need to see the whole thing.

 

[Lex Luther]

Do Lexus vehicles usually run on Toyota platforms, or do they have their own dedicated platforms? I suppose it could also be a mixed bag.

I don't think it is the worst thing to share platforms since that is what Lincoln is doing and that is working out pretty well for them. What I mean is that you can't tell easily that it is just a rebadged model. That is the key, and I don't think that Lexus will fall into the trap.

 

[Lex Luther]

Thought I would post up the official photos from Geneva. Very interesting model and should translate to a great production vehicle.

Full gallery here: Lexus LF-SA Concept - The Official Photos

 

[soarer]

As a city car, it can be very practical just looking at its proportions and getting a sense of what interior space and what ever little cargo space it has will be like...