Think Lexus and, as with parent company main brand Toyota, you tend to think hybrid.
That’s going to become even easier. From a 2005 start, when the first GS hybrid launched and just 15% of the company’s UK sales were petrol-electric models, the hybrid share will be 75% in 2013 and a predicted 97% next year.
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Hence the latest move – offering more than one hybrid drivetrain in a single model line.
Both coincidentally and conveniently, I had earlier this year attended the launch of the redesigned IS and its new 300h hybrid variant, alongside the 2.5 litre V6 petrol alternative, and spent recently a week driving the GS450h, now joined by a new GS300h version.
I hadn’t looked at the GS450h specs before it arrived and vaguely assumed it had a V8 petrol engine as the badge might once have suggested. The 0-100km/h time of 5.9 seconds, electronically reined-in top speed of 155mph and general surge of power whenever you prodded the right pedal sure supported that. Of course, I soon discovered a 288bhp/215kW petrol V6 combined with a 197bhp/147kW electric motor giving that V8 oomph with fuel economy a bent eight can only dream of – 40.9-49.6mpg on the EU test cycles and CO2 emissions of 141g/km – showing that downsizing engines and adding electrification really can bring benefits without compromising performance.
In the IS300h, I’d been a little disappointed with the refinement versus the V6 – the 2.5-litre Atkinson cycle I4 sounded coarser and there were other odd drivetrain noises from time to time so I was expecting a refinement compromise in the GS.
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By GlobalDataLexus engineers insisted the only change to the powertrain for the GS is a new final drive ratio and repositioned battery yet the 178bhp/133kW petrol engine and 141bhp/105kW electric motor seemed much smoother in the bigger car with only a noticeable I4 thrum when you floored it and the revs rose till the car caught up; typical CVT transmission behaviour.
You are down 110bhp on the petrol engine and 56bhp on the electric so the oomph of the 450 is noticeably absent as the 0-62 time plunges from 5.9 to 9.2 seconds but that’s not really a problem in civilised daily driving – which the relaxed GS encourages and excels at – but you might notice how much harder you’re needing to press the go pedal on long uphill motorway stretches or when pushing it a bit on twisty country roads.
The latest GS – which, especially if you go right up the model scale – drips with comfort, convenience and driver aid technology, was launched in 2012 and saw a 700% rise in sales in its first five months.
The additional 300h variant is targeted specifically at company car buyers in the UK who might otherwise go for two litre diesels. The drop in CO2 output from the 450’s 141g to 109g lowers annual road tax for private buyers but really kicks in for company drivers who pay lower benefit in kind tax. Lexus UK claims companies can save up to GBP4,300 over three years running a GS300h instead of a rival (German) diesel while ‘user choosers’ can pocket up to GBP7,000 in tax savings.
Toyota hybrids are CVT-only but Lexus says the segment is 77% auto anyway and the line is well priced in the GBP33,000-GBP38,000 ‘sweet spot’ where 75% of sales are made.
Hence the GBP31,495 SE (30%) and GBP37,495 Luxury (45%) trim specs are seen accounting for the majority of sales while the F Sport (GBP41,745; 15%) and Premier (GBP44,745; 10%) mop up the rest.
Even base SE trim brings you most things you’d expect for 32 grand bar leather and keyless entry (optional) and a trip up the price sheet adds luxury and technical items such as an extra Sport Plus drive mode, adaptive suspension, blind spot monitor and rear cross traffic alert, heated/ventilated front seats (first time I have seen an automatic setting for cooled or heated cheeks), rear seat heat, tri- instead of bi-zone climate control, sunshades, posher audio and nav, headup display and power boot lid closing.
And, being Japanese, it all works pretty well though I’d suggest stopping before you try fathoming out the less obvious controls such as HUD brightness and position and radar cruise control distance. Own one of these things and time spent with the inch-thick, leather bound handbook is well spent.
The GS300h is the sixth in a recent product blitz that has now seen the entire Lexus line either refreshed with that distinctive new ‘spindle’ grille or renewed completely and there’s more to come with the RC coupe, revealed at the Tokyo show.
Officials are coy when we ask about rumoured diesel-electrics, at least for Europe, but it is clear the company is still firmly hitched to petrol-electric hybrids and determined to continue carving out its distinctive niche. Volume ambitions remain modest – UK GS sales should reach 750 in 2013 and 1,500 in 2014, hardly likely to cause fear amongst German rivals.
But the move to offer more than one hybrid powertrain per model line is an interesting new development, sweeping up more buyers, this time, a bit lower down in the segment. It’ll be interesting to see if this happens to other Lexus lines in the future – RX300h anyone?
