After years in the European wilderness, Lexus now seems set on a steady path of sales expansion. The new NX, a RAV4-sized crossover, is the next step in its plan to become a sports-premium brand.
It’s been a long road to travel for Lexus. Twenty five years in fact. I recently got to play with one of the first examples of the LS 400 to come to Britain. Unlike a lot of historic models that manufacturers wheel out at press events, this one smelled and felt like new. The driver’s seat just about bounced me out as I exited it was so firm and springy still, all the dashboard plastics looked, well, they looked like 1989, but the glovebox fitted perfectly, none of the doors had dropped, and the indicator and wiper stalks had no free play in them. Impressive.
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The trouble with the LS, and this fact remains with the current generation, is that it looks so forgettable. Lexus is aware of this and as you can see from the latest cars such as the imminent for Britain RC F, action has been taken. And not just on the outside. I had a sit in an RC F at the Paris show and it’s quite a change compared to previous coupes such as the SC and IS C. Its maker wants us to believe it’s as good as the BMW M4 but the verdict on that will have to wait for another day.
Today, as I write this, it’s all about the new NX 300h. Obviously it’s a hybrid and unlike the powertrain in its big brother the RX 450h, this one is a 2.5-litre four-cylinder. If you go for the front-wheel drive base NX, this has just the one electric motor but all the other AWD versions have a second motor sending torque to the rear axle.
Some specular economy and CO2 claims are made, and of course, these are as tested according to the EC’s norms. The NX hybrid manages to emit just 121g/km of CO2, while returning a Combined average of 54.3mpg. In the real world of 3-4 days’ driving in a variety of weathers and on high and low-speed roads, I saw just under 30mpg. Certainly, if you tread as lightly as you can with your right foot on motorways, you should see this improve to the high thirties or maybe even better. And in town, you get a handy few miles of EV mode should you wish to use it. Top speed is 112mph and 0-62mph takes 9.2 seconds.
The car I had was in second-from-top F Sport trim, only Premier out-luxing it. You get some great looking wheels, a snazzy aero bodykit and that essential big grille. This is Lexus’ equivalent of Audi’s S line and it’s worth the extra over the lower grades, which are S, SE and Luxury. I remember a time when sales couldn’t justify more than one or two trim levels with the brand’s few models but times have changed. Across the 30 markets that ACEA monitors, the brand sold 21,142 vehicles, a 23% year-on-year rise, as at the end of the third quarter. To give some perspective, Jaguar sold 22,538 cars in the same period, with the total for market leader Audi being 557,791 (BMW, 548,943; Mercedes-Benz, 492,891).
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By GlobalDataAs Lexus Europe defines its own region as including Russia, its totals are a lot higher. The Russians love this brand for its dependability, with the body-on-frame GX and LX being two SUVs which sell well there. The LS is also relatively popular in long-wheelbase form, as is the ES sedan (like the GX and LX it’s not available in EU markets) and of course the RX. In spite of the fact that the local market has been variously plunging-to-dipping in recent months, Lexus sales are in fact up. By 25 percent in October. Last month, the importer sold 1,678 vehicles, taking the ten-month tally to 15,501 units. Click here if you want to see how that compares to the Germans and all other brands.
As for UK registrations, the SMMT gets its numbers out faster than ACEA’s so the ten month total was issued to the media a week or so ago. Russia might be Lexus Europe’s number one country but Britain is second. So far this year, the registrations tally is 9,725 which is a 25% YoY gain. October was another good month, with 1,096 cars sold. Jaguar managed only 1,127 units but at 15,754 for the YtD, it’s way ahead of its Japanese rival, even if its rate of expansion was only 11% in the equivalent period.
The new NX will surely be a big hit with British and other European buyers. The styling isn’t for everyone, but Lexus accepts that. Several of my friends weren’t even familiar with the brand but they certainly commented on the bright blue test model. The lightning bolt DRL and dramatically angular front end in general were especially remarked upon. And in a complimentary way.
What Lexus finally seems to be getting right is its models’ interiors too. The slightly clunky, over-styled dashboards adorned with shiny plastic-look rosewood are going and in their place has come elegant curves, consistent fonts on buttons where needed, and symbols rather than words elsewhere – you wouldn’t see ‘AUTO WINDOW’ beside buttons in a BMW, you’d just see a pic of partially lowered glass. Toyota’s upscale division is finally beginning to see this is all that’s needed.
I’ve driven every model in the UK range and so immediately noticed how this interior is a big improvement over that in, say, the RX and CT. It’s not like what you’ll find in a German car, or even in an Infiniti (HQ’s in HK so officially now a Cantonese car?), a Volvo, a Land Rover or a Jaguar. That’s a very good thing. At last, there is a genuinely unstated and cool Lexus look in place of the former slightly strange for the sake it design. If you want to know what I mean, peer into an Auris or Prius – good cars both but the designers went a touch crazy on the inside bits.
My rule of thumb is if a design has to be explained or has a name, it can often mean those who created it believe their own hype and hope we will too. I am saying nothing about L Finesse (or Toyota’s Vibrant Clarity). Other than Lexus seems to have stopped talking about it. I don’t care that the grille is supposed to look like a spindle: it’s enough that it looks menacing, and like nothing else. Acura has also tried this approach but its shield-like front ends instead appear to have been grafted on, not designed in so the cars have a sort of shovel-nose startled stance. Not good.
Speaking of good design, it needs to be everywhere in a high-end car. I’m going to be overly critical but the NX’s key is boring and made from hard plastic. But, there are some delights for minimalists in multiple other details. This includes the first door handles where even the driver’s is free of a visible lock (see pics). A strong sign that Lexus vehicles are only going to get better, in terms of honing the overall design of future models.
The driving experience is superb in the 300h. It’s got the joy of silence at low speeds, though on a cold morning the petrol engine will fire up just as you ease out of your parking space in EV mode. Next year, European markets will also be getting the turbocharged NX 200t but not the NX 200 which is offered in Japan and elsewhere. So the 300h is the only one with a petrol-electric powertrain. This includes a CVT and while there is still some noisy surging on occasion, it’s a whole lot better than you used to find in TMC’s hybrids.
While you enjoy the peace and quiet, you can also play around with a terrific haptic controller. Again, nice to see the lack of slavish copying of the German brands. I found everything I wanted quickly and there aren’t too many options either, so you won’t be driven to distraction trying to work out the SatNav. As in the RX, you won’t see an option for ‘postcode’ on the navi homepage. Instead, you must click through to a secondary page. This isn’t immediately obvious but once you know, there’s no problem.
Other delights include a wireless charging tray for your phone inside the central armrest (standard on F Sport and Premier), a squishy leather-covered dashboard and a soft-lined glovebox though its hard plastic exterior does jar. Not as much as the same material does when you touch the bottoms of the doors. This is quite nasty, scratch-prone stuff and something like a Golf is light years ahead. The A pillars are also covered in what is a squish-free material but the match to the (soft) headliner is seamless at least. The old vacuum-fluorescent dials that Lexus used to always specify are long gone now and in this car there is also, hurrah, no clichéd spinning of the needles upon start-up.
Speaking of silly, long since novel features, there’s no tiresome flat-bottom on the steering wheel. It’s superbly grippy, has a small diameter, is thick-rimmed and comes with a small F Sport badge. Overall, you feel spoiled in this 300h, there is just so much luxury gear, including an electric tailgate. A Volvo V60 Polestar which I have been lately very taken with and about which you’ll soon be reading, has nonetheless had its card marked for the crime of a manual boot. This is a forty nine thousand pound vehicle. The NX 300h F Sport costs just GBP36,995. Well, perhaps a bit more as Ultra Blue paint is an additional GBP645, adaptive suspension (worth the money as the ride and handling mix was excellent) costs GBP750 but I’m not sure about GBP1,995 for the Premium Navi system. It seems a lot doesn’t it?
The driver and front seat passenger are nicely tucked away in what feels like their own cockpits, while those behind have an unusual view out as the backrest is angled far more acutely than in most cars. This must be to maximise headroom. I would imagine that you’d get used to it. For a crossover, the roof is quite low, so you can tell that the stylists won a battle with those who might have wanted a taller turret. Remember too that the NX uses the same platform as the RAV4 and the two share a 2,660mm wheelbase.
This new model is a fantastic first effort from Lexus in the compact crossover segment. You can well imagine that Toyota Motor Kyushu’s Miyata plant might have a hard time keeping up with demand in 2015, as the car is rolled out to all global markets. The lack of a diesel engine will limit its potential in countries such as Germany, France, Britain and Italy. As Lexus insists, what matters is the economy and CO2 mix. So on those fronts, the official averages are highly competitive with vehicles such as the Evoque, Q5, X3, X4 and XC60. The GLK-replacing GLC-Class will join these models in 2015, and in RHD countries too. What about the Macan? With the base version starting at forty thousand pounds, it’s way too pricey to be considered a rival. The NX’s chassis could definitely cope with more power and torque so how great would it be if an NX F was on product planners’ minds. We can but hope.
