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2015 Lexus RC 350

Luxury coupes like this new, 2015 Lexus RC 350 have got, to my mind, a more challenging mission than their all-out-performance variants; in this case, the recently reviewed RC F.
That's not to say that I think actual owners and shoppers of cars like the RC F, BMW M4 and Cadillac CTS-V Coupe only care about output figures and lap times. In fact I'd say that those are outliers in terms of how they get used most often. But the story that we reviewers tell - and that shoppers in the ego-boosted segment tell themselves before they pull the trigger - have a lot to do with what the car is capable of on the edge of its envelope.
Mainstream coupes can't rely on that kind of irrational pull, however, at least outside of the emotional world of styling persuasion. For a buyer to drop more than $40,000 on the RC 350, he or she will want tons of features, comfort, good looks, and, yes, a dash of sportiness to spice of the pot. Reason and desire seem a lot more balanced here. That's great news for Lexus, with its history of creating sensible luxury cars and a pretty composed luxury coupe in this new RC.

Judge halts Toyota unintended acceleration cases, triggers time for settlement negotiations

So far, the lawsuits brought forth against Toyota for unintended acceleration have gone both ways: the automaker was found not at fault in a 2009 California crash and liable for a 2007 crash in Oklahoma. Both cases involved a Camry and resulted in fatalities. With a big chunk of these UA cases (around 200) set to his the docket of US District Judge James V. Selna in Santa Ana, California, Bloomberg is reporting that the judge has halted the lawsuits until March after Toyota and its lawyers have had extra time to try and settle the cases.
According to the article, Toyota is looking to take care of the cases out of court with an "intensive settlement process." Having already paid out $1.6 billion in "economic loss" suits, this latest settlement process is aimed at the wrongful death and personal injury cases allegedly associated with unintended acceleration. A hearing for the settlements will be held on January 14 with conferences on the matter commencing in February. There is no word as to when lawsuits may start back up if settlements can't be agreed upon.

New Lexus small CUV may have been behind moving ES production to Kentucky

Lexus may have had another big reason - in addition to the financial incentives potentially worth up to $146.5 million that Kentucky offered - to move ES production to its Georgetown, KY plant. The ES has always been built in Japan, and a report at TheDetroitBureau.com claims that the Kyushu facility will be tooling up to build a new model thought to be a compact hybrid crossover expected to go on sale next year. While ES300h production would remain in Japan, shedding 50,000 units of traditional ES production would free capacity for what many think will be an important model in the Lexus lineup.
The new CUV will come in below the RX and be built on the platform of the RAV4. Speculation is that there will be an NX200t and an NX300h, the former possibly getting the 2.0-liter turbo Toyota engine due in 2014 - matching the predicted timeline for the CUV and supposedly also meant for an RX200t - and latter getting the same 2.5-liter hybrid powertrain in the ES300h. We'll see a preview of the Audi Q3 and BMW X1 fighter at this year's Tokyo Motor Show; the production version should be unveiled at the 2014 Geneva Motor Show.