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Lexus reveals LF-NX crossover concept for Frankfurt

Compact luxury crossovers are becoming big business for upscale automakers. Mercedes is slotting the new GLA beneath the GLK, BMW has the X1 below the X3, Audi has downsized from the Q5 to the Q3, and Lexus is keen to get in on the game. And to that end, Toyota's luxury division is coming to the Frankfurt Motor Show this year with the concept crossover you see here.
Previewed a couple of weeks ago with an enigmatic teaser, the LF-NX concept, in the company's own words, "explores the potential for a compact crossover within the Lexus model range." The latest adaptation of the "L-finesse" design language could be the sharpest and most stylistically Japanese we've seen yet, with the sharp creases of the signature spindle grille repeated all around for a razor-sharp look. Lexus only released one shot of the cabin, but it looks as sharp as the exterior and, while clearly stylized, looks essentially more production-ready than most show cars.
Lexus hasn't revealed much about the powertrain, saying only that it incorporates "a new variant of the Lexus Hybrid Drive system tuned for SUV performance." Whether it actually has an engine that Lexus will detail at the show remains to be seen, but you can delve into the press release below for more and scope out the five images released thus far in the gallery above for a closer look.

Lexus LC 500 stands apart from the go-fast sport luxury crowd

We at Autoblog, by and large, love the LC 500. For its concept-car looks, derived almost verbatim from the 2012 LF-LC concept. And for the charming V8, which growls and burbles appropriately but doesn't subscribe to the faux-backfire trend. Our Editor-in-Chief, Greg Migliore, perfectly summarized the LC 500's appeal when he drove it recently: "Evening walkers cast curious glances. A guy in an old pickup almost sideswiped me as he gawked while taking the corner fast. It's a celebrity car. It also sounds good; the 5.0-liter V8 growls and rumbles. Style and muscle. An excellent execution." I just spent a week in it, my first encounter with the car, and it made me think most about how it's positioned in the Lexus lineup. Notably, it's not positioned as the performance extreme. This is refreshing, because not every car needs to attempt a Nurburgring time. If you want to hunt road-course records in this day and age, it takes massive power and massive traction. We're getting to the point, perhaps well beyond it, where that is doing the stopwatch more favors than the driver. Part of this is decades of marketing putting the sportiest variant of a particular vehicle above the most luxurious in the pecking order of regular vehicles, which doesn't make a ton of sense if you think about it. In the 1960s, the ultimate Mercedes-Benz was the 600 Grosser limousine, which was built like a Rolex bank vault. It had a huge engine, but the point was to move the massive thing around, not for the sheer pleasure of it. Ironically, the Grosser's engine made its way later into the 300 SEL 6.3, turning a large and luxurious sedan into a surprisingly capable bruiser, and then into the Rote Sau race car. Arguably, this was an impetus for the sort of sporty arms race I'm decrying. (Now, when you talk about supercars, or ultimate luxury cars like a Bentley or Maybach, this distinction makes less sense. But let's limit our discussion to vehicles the well-heeled average consumer could actually purchase — things at the upper end of the ranges of normal car manufacturers.) This takes us to the Lexus LC 500. Unlike Mercedes, whose Mercedes-AMG cars are on top of the regular car pecking order, Audi's RS line, BMW's M Division, and Porsche's various Turbos, the LC 500 is simply a large, powerful car. It's comfortable, it looks interesting, and it has more than enough grunt to get out of its own way. There are Sport and Performance options packages, but there's no LC F or F-Line trim available.

2013 Lexus LS460 F-Sport AWD

Gary Approved
There's a guy that goes to my gym who can't get enough of the Lexus LS - let's call him Gary. Gary's the guy - you've probably got one at your gym, or coffee shop, or some other public but quasi-social location - who talks to everyone he meets. Sit next to him on the rowing machine or run by him on the track, and he's almost certainly going to bend your ear for a minute or 20. Gary is in his mid-60s, a business owner, and the super-proud owner of a 2013 Lexus LS.
Not being a shy man, Gary will be the first one to tell you that he didn't do much comparative shopping (he "drove by" the BMW dealership, and looked at a 7 Series "on the computer"). Being a satisfied former owner of multiple Lexus RXs, there was probably only a tiny statistical chance that Gary wouldn't end up in an LS when it came time for him to treat himself to the tricked out luxury car that he'd wanted for a long time. Still, when I found myself chatting with Gary about his new LS, right after I had spent a wintry week in the 2013 LS460 F-Sport AWD, I figured that he'd have some light to shed on the car.