Photo: Lexus
Toyota's luxury branch has been selling the LX model for quite a few years now, and despite constant upgrades to both its interior and exterior design, Lexus never really managed to disguise the fact it's a souped-up Land Cruiser.
That did come with some advantages - the Toyota model is renowned for its great reliability and supreme ruggedness, but those aren't the type of qualities that Lexus customers are most interested in a car. The fact the SUV was based on a mere mass-market product was much more important to them.
After a few years of wandering around, Lexus seems to have found a new groove now with the launch of the LC coupe, but also the NX crossover which showed the company could import some of that exciting design features into its SUV lineup as well.
The trend appears to continue, and it looks like it's targeting the flagship model for a change. The company released a teaser for a concept SUV it plans to unveil at next year's Detroit Auto Show, and even though it doesn't reveal much, it's enough to know it has nothing to do with the Toyota Land Cruiser.
For one thing, it appears to have that BMW X6 sloped rear window, suggesting it might receive a coupe-like silhouette. That means the production model it might spawn won't necessarily be the largest model in the Lexus range, but it could very well be the most expensive.
The image shows the vehicle's taillights which seem to flow in a continuous line from one side of the SUV to another. The automotive industry is starting to act more and more like the fashion one, and it looks as though one-piece taillights are in this season as a growing number of manufacturers appear to use them.
We're also most definitely looking at a hybrid, though the eventual series model should come with other drivetrains as well. Lexus didn't say much about its concept other than that it is the "next genre in luxury crossover vehicles," which is as unambiguous as the image is revealing. The good news is the NAIAS is starting on January 8, so we can already count the time left until the reveal in weeks, if not days.
After a few years of wandering around, Lexus seems to have found a new groove now with the launch of the LC coupe, but also the NX crossover which showed the company could import some of that exciting design features into its SUV lineup as well.
The trend appears to continue, and it looks like it's targeting the flagship model for a change. The company released a teaser for a concept SUV it plans to unveil at next year's Detroit Auto Show, and even though it doesn't reveal much, it's enough to know it has nothing to do with the Toyota Land Cruiser.
For one thing, it appears to have that BMW X6 sloped rear window, suggesting it might receive a coupe-like silhouette. That means the production model it might spawn won't necessarily be the largest model in the Lexus range, but it could very well be the most expensive.
The image shows the vehicle's taillights which seem to flow in a continuous line from one side of the SUV to another. The automotive industry is starting to act more and more like the fashion one, and it looks as though one-piece taillights are in this season as a growing number of manufacturers appear to use them.
We're also most definitely looking at a hybrid, though the eventual series model should come with other drivetrains as well. Lexus didn't say much about its concept other than that it is the "next genre in luxury crossover vehicles," which is as unambiguous as the image is revealing. The good news is the NAIAS is starting on January 8, so we can already count the time left until the reveal in weeks, if not days.
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