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Lexus to replace GX SUV with new TX crossover

There's been a lot of news regarding future Lexus products recently, including spy shots of new RC coupe and NX compact crossover, and reports that a 2+2 coupe based on the LF-LC concept is heading for production. Now, Automotive News says that Japan's #1 luxury automaker is planning to replace the fullsize, body-on-frame Lexus GX SUV with a three-row crossover called the TX.
The article says that the GX, which is based on the foreign-market Toyota Land Cruiser Prado, will get a styling update for 2014 before being phased out in 2016. In a similar move as Infiniti made with its new three-row JX/QX60, the new TX will be car-based, but details are still unknown as to whether it will be front-wheel-drive riding on the Toyota Avalon platform or rear-wheel-drive using the Lexus GS platform. Either way, this new luxury crossover could join the Lexus lineup as soon as late 2016.

Lexus NX begins production in Japan [w/videos]

Lexus entered new territory this past April when it revealed the new NX compact luxury crossover at the Beijing Motor Show, but it wasn't until now that the Toyota luxury division actually started building them. The first production examples started rolling off the assembly line last week at the Miyata plant in Japan, with the accompanying turbo engines built at the adjacent Kanda plant.
The arrival of the NX marks both the first time that Lexus has produced a compact crossover - an increasingly important segment for luxury automakers - and the first time Lexus has offered a turbocharged engine, one of two options alongside the hybrid version. The NX builds on two previous competences exhibited by Toyota: one is the RAV4, which pioneered the compact crossover segment back in 1994, the other being the Lexus RX that was among the first luxury crossovers when it arrived in '97.
Lexus reports that it has already taken some 6,500 pre-orders in Japan alone, with many more coming in from markets around the world - including ours, where it is sure to be a key player for the Japanese automaker alongside the hot-selling RX. Watch the videos below to see the NX starting its production run in Japan.

Why Lexus shies away from plug-in hybrids

Lexus may have softened its stance a bit from the anti plug-in vehicle ads the Toyota luxury badge ran last year, but at least one executive from the company casts a pretty critical eye towards the concept as a way to cut both emissions and refueling costs. In fact, Lexus doesn't really buy the fact that buyers of plug-in hybrids are really looking to save both gas and the environment, Green Car Reports says, citing an interview at the recent New York Auto Show with Lexus executive Mark Templin. Templin also said hydrogen fuel-cell technology may be a better way to edge towards zero emissions. Templin decried plug-in hybrid technology because it adds weight to vehicles, which contributes to poor emissions figures in the process. He added that plug-in vehicle buyers are motivated more by potential tax credits and solo driving rights in high-occupancy vehicle (HOV) lanes than cutting back on fuel use. Last summer, Lexus ran an supposedly tongue-in-cheek print ad poking fun at how long it takes to charge a plug-in vehicle and how using air conditioning can shorten a car's charging range. Last spring, Lexus had to backpedal from an anti-electric ad it ran that had serious mistakes about hydrogen infrastructure. News Source: Green Car Reports Green Lexus Toyota Hybrid PHEV