2002 Lexus Sc430 Base Convertible 2-door 4.3l on 2040-cars

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Toyota offered $146.5 million to build Lexus ES in Kentucky

Toyota posted a media advisory yesterday saying that Akio Toyoda, president of Toyota, and Jim Lentz, CEO of Toyota North America, would be making a production announcement tomorrow in New York City, and Automotive News reports that the automaker will be announcing a plan to domestically produce the Lexus ES. According to the report, numerous plants are competing to build the ES in North America, and the State of Kentucky has offered the automaker up to $146.5 million to build the luxury sedan at the Georgetown, KY assembly plant.
If Georgetown gets the ES, which has been built in Japan since its debut in 1989, it would be built alongside the Toyota Camry, which is somewhat ironic since in our review of the 2013 Lexus ES350, we wrote that this ES finally says "goodbye to its Camry roots." In order to get the whole amount offered, the article states that Toyota would have to invest $531.2 million and hire 570 full-time workers at the plant, which doesn't sound all that unreasonable since the plant would require an additional 50,000 units of annual production, not to mention the fact that the Georgetown facility is already at its capacity for building the Camry.

2015 Lexus RC 350 F Sport snarls in Switzerland with darkened demeanor

Lexus is finally ready to return to the coupe market with the new RC, and while we already saw it in Detroit, it brought the new RC 350 F Sport version for the Geneva Motor Show.
The car packs 306 horsepower and 277 pound-feet from its 3.5-liter V6 and is meant to sit between the standard RC 350 Sport Coupe and the full bore RC F.
Most obvious when you glimpse the coupe is the more aggressive spindle grille with a new mesh treatment and dark, 19-inch F Sport wheels. The interior also receives a host of upgrades with Rioja Red leather and Silver Performance trim, plus perforated leather trim on the steering wheel and shift knob. There is a bit of LFA inspiration as well with the F Sport getting its moving center ring instrument display. It is not all about better style though because the coupe also gets adaptive dampers and an optional four-wheel steering system.

BMW-Toyota partnership to spawn hybrid supercar

BMW and Toyota inked a partnership some time ago to develop green technology, and while we were excited by the idea of a reborn Supra with BMW's carbon fiber reinforced plastic slashing the curb weight or an ultra-efficient, hybridized 1 Series, the joint efforts have been rather limited. That's set to change, though, according to a report from Australia.
Motoring reports that the partners have come to terms on a sports car. And not just any sports car, but a lightweight, hybridized model, with a six-figure price tag. Lending a bit of street cred to that idea is the site's claim that Toyota is currently carrying out durability testing on the BMW i8. According to the site, the new model will slot into the spot left by the Lexus LFA, although based on the language used, it's unclear if this is the Tokyo-bound vehicle we mentioned several months ago.
Details on this potential car are limited, although Motoring claims it will use a Toyota hybrid system mated up to a BMW gas engine - likely the 4.4-liter, twin-turbo V8 found in the M5 and M6. That sounds pretty amazing to us, but we'd still advise taking this with a grain of salt. What would you like to see out of a joint-venture supercar from Toyota and BMW? Let us know in Comments, and have your say on the prospects of a hybridized, twin-turbocharged V8.