After the first half of the year, it was Toyota that was the hottest Japanese automaker on the North American car market – with introductions like the Prius 'Hybrid Reborn,' Corolla Cross Hybrid and Nightshade family, the 2024 Grand Highlander, and of course the best-selling 2024 Tacoma mid-size pickup truck. But now it's time for Lexus to shine - only that they're burning brighter than ever on three continents.
Last year we saw Honda take America by storm with many novelties – the new HR-V (called ZR-V internationally), the new best-selling CR-V crossover, the latest Civic Type R, the mid-size Pilot and Accord, etc. Then it was time for Toyota's giant replica during the first six months. Now both are taking a break and letting their premium divisions take over the car market hostilities – Acura with the mighty Integra Type S hot sedan and Lexus with a trio of high-riding heroes.
We are mere hours away from the June 8 date of TX and GX reckoning as Lexus will pretty much try to redefine the family-oriented three-row mid-size crossover sector with their TX alternative to the 2024 Grand Highlander plus the third generation Lexus GX – otherwise also known as the Toyota Land Cruiser Prado in other regions. But they started the battle to capture the spotlight a little earlier – and on a different continent altogether.
On June 5, in Milan, Italy, the company's chief branding officer (Simon Humphries) and Lexus president Takashi Watanabe took the stage to present the first-ever, all-new LBX subcompact luxury crossover SUV. The premium CUV is the brand's smallest high-riding offering to date and will swiftly join the European, Japanese, and a few other select markets starting with the final quarter of the year as a ritzy hybrid take on the XP210-series Toyota Yaris Cross. It's powered by a three-cylinder 1.5-liter assisted by an electric motor for FWD or AWD capabilities and churns out 134 hp through a traditional CVT gearbox. Nothing spectacular so far if you already know the Yaris Cross Hybrid by heart.
However, the smallest Lexus means this will also be the most accessible CUV model to date, slotted below the compact UX. And that surely attracted everyone's attention – both in the real world as well as across the imaginative realm of digital car content creators. Over there, the virtual artist better known as Theottle has resorted to CGI slicing and dicing the latest Lexus - no, not the TX or GX - into a feisty CUV of the F Sport variety.
And he even has thought about what could be found under the hood – the feisty GR Yaris and GR Corolla three-cylinder G16E-GTS 1.6 liter with up to 300 horsepower! But, since the Lexus LBX is only offered with hybrid oomph, how about the hypothetical LBX F Sport adopting some PHEV attire instead, to the tune of 220 hp, from the Prius ('Hybrid Reborn') Prime?
Aurel has aimed high all his life (literally, at 16 he was flying gliders all by himself) so in 2006 he switched careers and got hired as a writer at his favorite magazine. Since then, his work has been published both by print and online outlets, most recently right here, on autoevolution. Full profile
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