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2018 Lexus LC 500 Prototype First Drive

Chief executives aren't normally as candid as Akio Toyoda was last week. At the launch of hot new Lexus LC 500 coupe at the Detroit Auto Show, the chief executive of Lexus and Toyota and grandson of the company's founder, said that he'd received letters telling him that his Lexus luxury brand cars were dull and boring and that he agreed. "I took them to heart," said this tiny and forceful boss, "and I'm ensuring that the word 'boring' and 'Lexus' will never occupy the same sentence ever again." But boring has been an ongoing problem for Lexus. And for the last year I've been involved in trying to help solve it. Let me explain. Akio has made his extraordinary "Lexus is Boring" speech before. That was five years ago on the windswept golf courses at the Pebble-Beach Concourse d'Elegance at the launch of the fourth-generation GS sedan. With its new-look spindle grille, basking-shark air intakes, and razor-edged curves, GS was the first of the new-look Lexus models, but Akio still wasn't happy. In 2011, after 11 consecutive years of premium market leadership in America, Lexus had lost it to the Germans. Mercedes-Benz, BMW, and Audi didn't just build better looking cars, but more interesting and more fun-to-drive cars. "We're not just making a coupe, we're creating a new generation of Lexus." Lexus' shtick of reliability, immaculate-quality, hybrid gas-efficiency, golf-bag trunk optimization, and specification-adjusted value didn't cut it anymore. Akio, a keen race driver and petrolhead enthusiast, knew his cars needed a dynamic shot in the arm and a smoldering love affair with right-brain desirability. In short, he wanted Lexus engineers to build a car to bring a smile to drivers' faces. A tall order, then. And one which Koji Sato, deputy chief engineer on the LC had to consider carefully. As he says: "Akio's Pebble Beach speech was the starting point; we're not just making a coupe, we're creating a new generation of Lexus." With such a brief, and Akio's legendary peppery opinions in mind, Sato came up with a radical idea. Reckoning that sometime in-house teams can look so much in-house that they become blinkered, he decided he needed to open things up and recruit a team of outsiders. So, for the last year I, along with a small team of hand-picked journalists, race drivers, and keen-driving dealers, have been part of Sato-san's 'irregular army'. Why me? It's a good question.

Recharge Wrap-up: Formula E gets more power, Tesla outsells competition

Tesla sold significantly more electric vehicles than its competitors in 2015. Tesla delivered 50,580 vehicles in 2015. 208 of those were its new Model X SUV, and likely half of its Model S units were sold in the US. By comparison, Nissan sold 17,269 Leafs. For General Motors, through the end of November, Cadillac sold 1,024 ELRs, while Chevrolet sold 15,393 Volts and 2,477 Spark EVs. Ford sold similar numbers of its plug-in vehicles in 2015, compared to Nissan and GM, putting each of those automakers between 17,000 and 19,000 EVs. By comparison, Tesla had quite a year. Read more at Teslarati. Lexus is teasing an "unprecedented" world premiere at the 2016 Detroit Auto Show. The automaker is rumored to debut its LC 500, powered by a 465-horsepower, 5.0-liter V8, as well as the LC 500h using a hybrid powertrain consisting of a V6 engine and electric motor. The LC 500h is rumored to produce over 470 horsepower. The Lexus LC will be based on the LF-LC concept that debuted in Detroit in 2012. Lexus has set up a dedicated microsite for its presentation at the Detroit show on January 11. Read more from Hybrid Cars. Formula E will raise its power limit for its third season. According to the newly published FIA Formula E 2016 Technical Regulations, output will be boosted from a maximum 200 kW (268 horsepower) to 250 kW (335 horsepower). While race energy will still be limited to 28 kWh, the battery weight limit has been raised from 200 kilograms (441 pounds) to 230 kilograms (507 pounds), likely to help accommodate the higher output. Meanwhile, overall car weight drops from 888 kilograms (1958 pounds) to 880 kilograms (1940 pounds). Lighter, more powerful cars should make the next season of Formula E even more exciting. Read more at Current E. Related Gallery Lexus LF-LC Concept: Detroit 2012 View 11 Photos News Source: Telsarati, Hybrid Cars, Lexus, Current E, FIA Formula EImage Credit: Formula E Green Motorsports Detroit Auto Show Lexus Tesla Electric Hybrid recharge wrapup

2018 Lincoln Navigator vs luxury SUV rivals: How it compares on paper

The all-new 2018 Lincoln Navigator is an impressive, luxury-lined beast. However, while its Black Label interior stood out most during our first drive of the new Navigator, it also seemed pretty clear that much of this full-size SUV was superior to the competition in a number of fundamental ways. Its Raptor-sourced 3.5-liter V6 had class-leading power for one, and its third-row seat seemed as spacious and comfortable as its rivals' are cramped and barely usable. To search for your next new vehicle, try Autoblog' s Car Finder. Yet, I wanted to take a closer look at how the Navigator fully compares on paper to its competitors - especially the Cadillac Escalade with which it most directly competes. The below spreadsheet should tell the whole story, but as you can see, there's an awful lot of class-leading green highlighter in the Navigator's column. The cargo volume and third-row legroom numbers are particularly telling, with the latter actually going up to 42.3 inches when you slide the second-row fully forward. Now, a few things to note about the above spreadsheet. The GLS-Class is also available as the GLS 550, which boasts a 4.7-liter V8 that just comes up short to the Navigator with 449 horsepower but has to deal with only 5,578 pounds. Its $94,950 price tag is comparable to the Navigator Black Label. Much of the LX 570's information is also applicable to the Toyota Land Cruiser, which, badge aside, could certainly be considered a member of this segment given its feature content and still-hefty price tag. It has better ground clearance and approach/departure angles than its Lexus sibling, along with an as-indicated lower price. Much of the Escalade's information also applies to the GMC Yukon Denali, while the Infiniti QX80 is applicable to the Nissan Armada. Related Video: Cadillac Infiniti Lexus Lincoln Mercedes-Benz SUV Luxury Off-Road Vehicles consumer lincoln navigator