Lexus has signaled that a new design era is coming. The automaker, which is the luxury arm of Toyota, plans to reveal a concept car that points toward the future of the company on March 30.
Ahead of that reveal, Lexus has released some images of the concept under the cover of darkness. Let’s take a closer look to see what they reveal. You can see a video of the vehicle below, provided by the automaker.
The front of the concept vehicle appears snub-nosed, with a smaller grille than what can be seen on current Lexus sedans like the ES and IS. The hood comes nearly to the edge of front end but sweeps back in dramatic fashion thanks o shapely curves that guide the eye up to the windscreen.
The Lexus front end looks to feature a smaller grille.Photo courtesy of Lexus
The hood features a bubble, perhaps alluding to a larger-than-usual engine under the hood. The 2022 Lexus IS F Sport Performance has a similar look.
Lexus continues to show its signature checkmark-light daytime running lights under a singular headlight housing, where they were moved during the most recent round of vehicle fascia refreshes. On the concept car, the Lexus “L” badge at the front of the car is illuminated like the emblems on the front of Lincoln, Cadillac, and Mercedes SUVs. Cadillac has most recently shown the illuminated emblem on the forthcoming Lyriq all-electric crossover.
Strong character lines sweep front to back on the concept car where a hatchback (fingers crossed) or fastback design takes hold. Unseen in the video that Lexus released, but slipped into the image pack they sent over was a look at the rear of the car.
A rear view of the Lexus concept made its way into the image pack but not the video.Photo courtesy of Lexus
There, long, slim taillights are illuminated relatively high on the posterior, just underneath what looks like it could be a wing/spoiler. Defined rear fenders and a large area with vertical features that takes the look of a diffuser.
Unique wheels give the car a futuristic look.
The entire shape of the concept has similar lines to the LF-1 Limitless concept that Lexus showed a few years ago at the North American International Auto Show. A version of that crossover was said to be in the works after the concept was received with tremendous enthusiasm by dealers and the public.
On digital film at least this new concept doesn’t look like it’s the same size as the LF-1, but rather rmore the size of the Honda Crosstour.
Whatever the future holds, as long as the interior of Lexus models evolves to (finally) get rid of the touch pad and retains traditional high reliability, Lexus customers are likely to be satisfied with the changes.
