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Lexus CT 200h could be replaced by sub-compact hybrid CUV

The Lexus CT 200h is an interesting vehicle that never really caught on. It's a sporty Prius in sleeker hatchback clothing and was aimed at the Audi A3 when it hit the market in 2011. Since then, though, the CT has averaged a meager 16,000 sales per year. For that reason, the hybrid hatch won't be redesigned at the end of its life cycle. And according to Lexus' European brand boss, Alain Uyttenhoven, it could be replaced by a crossover. While you may lament yet another CUV hitting the market, Lexus needs a small car that sells in big numbers. Uyttenhoven told Autocar the brand aims to move 100,000 units per year in Europe to "give us visibility in the market." For 2016, European sales are on pace to hit just 70,000 units, with 10,000 of those coming from the CT 200h. He sees an opportunity for the right little Lexus based on the recent nature of the European luxury market. View 29 Photos According to Uyttenhoven, "a full 50 percent of the European luxury car market exists below the [$44,600] mark," and the only model Lexus has at that point is the CT. Put another way, the company has a remarkably slow seller as its sole representative for half of an entire continent's luxury market. Enter the crossover. Replacing the CT with a crossover makes a great deal of sense. The body style is getting more and more popular by the day, especially in the sub-compact and compact markets. Adding a smaller model – below the current NX crossover but larger than the LF-SA concept shown in Geneva – would allow Lexus to challenge the Mercedes-Benz GLA, the BMW X1, and the Audi Q3. We're betting the small crossover would use the Toyota C-HR as its basis and add a Lexus-correct heavily creased skin. Hybrid power is a given for the European market, where almost all Lexuses sold are gas-electric, but a conventional gas variant could join it in the US. That would give Lexus three hybrid CUVs in three popular sizes, alongside the NX and RX. With a forthcoming RX-based three-row on the horizon, the brand would have a full lineup of crossovers ready to take over the world. We'll miss the quirky CT when it goes, but it's hard to stop volume-driven progress. Related Video:

Lexus says it's not worried about LS sales decline in face of S-Class, Model S

The Lexus LS is old. Sure, it received a refresh for model year 2013, but it hasn't had a clean-sheet redesign since George W. Bush was in office. It's the oldest vehicle in its segment, debuting in 2007, a full year before the current-gen BMW 7 Series, two years before the Hyundai Equus and Jaguar XJ and three years before the Audi A8.
This is particularly troubling as buyers flock to the heavily redesigned Mercedes-Benz S-Class, which debuted late last year, and the all-electric Tesla Model S. Despite this move, though, Lexus is (worryingly in our minds) not at all concerned.
"We don't feel it's a problem with the car," Brian Smith, VP of marketing for Lexus, told Wards Auto. "Many of the buyers in that segment want what's new and they're trying it."

Lexus jumps head first into turbocharging with its 2015 NX 200t

If Lexus is going to stay competitive, it needs to turbocharge sooner rather than later.
If there's anything that Lexus is experienced with, thanks in large part to its corporate parents at Toyota, it's hybrid powertrains. The automaker has hybridized tiny little four-cylinder engines, massive honkin' V8s and everything in between. So synonymous are hybrids and Lexus that it would be a shock to see a brand-new model released without an accompanying version with blue badging and a little "h" appendage to its name.