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2015 Lexus RC F configurator heats up

Just over two weeks after Lexus activated its online configurator for the 2015 RC350, the Japanese luxury marque is flipping the switch on the car we really want to customize – the 467-horsepower RC F. In addition to letting us play about with various configurations for the new sports coupe, Lexus' latest builder is decidedly different and more visually pleasing. It also does away with the brand's typical, and occasionally unintuitive, grouping of options. In its place, we have a trio of simple, logical packages. There's a navigation pack that adds, um, navigation. It also includes in Lexus' Enform telematics suite. You can also select a Premium Pack, that adds luxury features like heated and vented seats, park assist and LED headlamps, while an all-weather pack tacks on a heated steering wheel, headlamp washers and a deicer for the wiper blades. There are some secondary options, too, including an attractive set of 19-inch wheels, an updated leather interior, adaptive cruise control and a moonroof. All in all, pretty standard fare. Prices for the RC F start at $62,400, not counting a $925 destination charge. Head over to Lexus' consumer page and build your ideal RC F.

Japanese dealer petitioning Lexus for luxury van [w/poll]

Used to be that if you wanted a luxury automobile - especially one to be chauffeured around in - your choices were basically limited to a sedan. It could be bigger or smaller, more or less expensive, depending on your needs and budget, but it was always going to have four doors and a trunk. But these days the rich and famous are looking elsewhere for their commodious forms of pampering transportation. There are, of course, the crossovers and SUVs, which only seem to be getting bigger and more expensive thanks to the likes of the Mercedes-Benz G-Class, Range Rover L and upcoming Bentley sport-ute. But luxury vans are becoming the new big thing.
That's the point that one dealer in Japan is trying to make to Toyota. The dealership owner himself reasons that if he's going out on the town, he's likely to take his chauffeured Lexus LS. But if he's taking a few friends along, even the biggest sedan isn't going to cut it. So he takes a Toyota Alphard (pictured above, also known as the Vellfire), a JDM van that's even bigger than a Voxy/Noah or Sienna but hardly a high-end affair. That's why he's asking Lexus to make a luxury van.
The idea may seem a little far-fetched, but isn't without precedent. It didn't take much for Lexus to transform the Land Cruiser into the LX and thus create its first luxury SUV. And as Mercedes has shown with pimped-out versions of the Sprinter and now with the debut of the new V-Class in Geneva, there's clearly a market for it... in some countries, anyway. The only question in our minds is how long it's going to take other luxury automakers to catch on, because let's face it: the Chrysler Town & Country ain't gonna cut it for those used to be driven around in a Maybach.

Lexus parts prices cut in China amidst antitrust fears

It's been a topsy-turvy summer for foreign businesses in China ever since that country's National Development and Reform Commission and State Administration for Industry & Commerce launched a horde of investigations into anti-monopoly practices. When the law outlining monopolistic behavior was passed in 2008 foreign companies appreciated it, expecting it to illuminate some of the more opaque corners of Chinese government enforcement. That hasn't exactly been the case, and now as more than 1,000 auto-sector firms get investigated and pay huge fines to settle the nebulous charge of having prices that are too high, that hoped-for clarity is all but gone.
A recent news report said Audi, Chrysler and Daimler "would be punished for unspecified violations" concerning the prices of spare parts. Earlier this month Toyota said that Lexus China was being looked at, and before there's been any public notification of punishment Lexus has decided to lower the price of its replacement parts. From next month, customers will save an average of 26 percent on roughly 15,000 parts. It's unknown whether the move will appease authorities enough to end the investigation, which outside analysts have said targets foreign firms in China over domestic industry.