The Lexus LC500 & LC500h, Plus LC-F Talk

Andrew English, motoring correspondent, telegraph cars
11 JANUARY 2016 • 5:00PM

The new Lexus LC coupé has only just been unveiled at the 2016 Detroit auto show, and yet the Telegraph's Andrew English has already driven it

With the press and photographers at Detroit crowded around the extraordinary new Lexus LC coupé at the lunchtime press conference, this story appears as modern as the hour, but it has antecedents that go back more than five years, with one involving Telegraph Cars...

Based on the handsome 2012 LF-LC concept, the LC goes on sale in the US and Japan at the beginning of next year, with Europe getting it later in 2017.

It's powered by the 467bhp/389lb ft 5.0-litre V8 that’s also found in the RC F and GS F, plus it debuts a new 10-speed automatic gearbox with paddle shifters. The LC uses lightweight carbon fibre in its construction and weighs 1,800kg, with a 0-60mph time of 4.5sec.

But much more than its specification, the LC is also a hugely important trail blazer for a new breed of dynamic, fun-to-drive Lexus, with parts of its structure and dynamics slated to go into the next LS luxury saloon.

Here we need to go back to the Pebble Beach Concours d'Elegance in August 2011. This was when Akio Toyoda, Toyota chief executive and grandson of Toyota's founder, introduced the fourth-generation Lexus GS saloon, with its "new face" of spindle grille, gaping intakes and heavy creasing.

Akio wasn't happy, however. He'd battled with his design department over the new Lexus’s “look” and his troubles didn't stop there. Still struggling with the consequences of the Fukushima earthquake and a series of safety recalls around the world, Akio had also been given the news that Lexus's 11 years of luxury market leadership in the US had come to an end.

As a result, it had just dawned on the company that merely being reliable and well made, with golf-bag-friendly luggage spaces and specification-adjusted competitive prices was not enough.

The Germans had fought back with better looking, better driving and more desirable automobiles. Fact is, Lexus was boring and Akio, a racing driver and driving enthusiast, said so and promised to restore emotion to the Lexus brand.

As Koji Sato, deputy chief engineer on the LC, says: “That Pebble Beach speech was the starting point; we're not just making a coupé, we're creating a new generation of Lexus.”

Sato took an unconventional route to engineering the LC. He felt that sometimes development teams can look too much inside themselves to the point of being blinkered, so he went outside the company to recruit a team of outsiders: racing drivers, journalists and dealer principles.

This was sensationally controversial in a secrecy-obsessed company like Lexus and every single outside driver, including me, had to sign strict secrecy agreements. In fact, Sato's scheme very nearly came to grief when one of the “advisors” (not me) crashed the car on its first run out.

In the last year, Sato's small team of “irregulars” has met at test tracks and interesting roads in America to give their opinions. The last of these was just before Christmas at Willow Springs, north of Los Angeles, an isolated track, close to Edwards Air Force base.

With the latest changes to the suspension including new geometry and ball joints for the front wishbones, longer uprights and a revised air suspension settings, plus a rear steering system, the LC felt much improved.

I thought the rear steering required more programming work at high side forces (the system will be optional) and the front felt too soft, but it compared reasonably well with the benchmark cars: the BMW 6-Series, Maserati GranTurismo, Porsche 911 and Mercedes S-class Coupé.

Bridgestone engineers had fitted the latest generation of run-flat tyres which will be on production cars. These have a new tread pattern and rubber construction, which has 16 per cent less rubber in the side walls and a single-ply construction instead of two ply. The aim is to reduce the weight and ride quality drawback of the traditional run-flat tyre, while still maintaining the obvious advantages of not having to carry a spare wheel.

I also got a chance to talk to Hideo Tomomatsu, project manager, about the car's 10-speed gearbox. Why hadn't Lexus used a twin-clutch gearbox, I asked?

“I don't understand why a twin-clutch is necessary,” he said. “They say it is for a sporty feel, but we can achieve that with our 10-speed, and although dry twin-clutch transmissions can be quite efficient, the wet clutch systems for high power [applications] introduce a lot of drag and can overheat.

"More to the point, American and Japanese customers expect a degree of low-speed refinement that a twin-clutch simply can't deliver."

Sato and I discussed the car's dynamics and he agreed with my thoughts on the rear steering system, but not so much with my view that the steering is still too light. What was clear, however, is the LC was beginning to have its own dynamic identity, with a soft but responsive turn in and faithful tracking through a bend. Sato agreed.

“What I am most happy with," he said, "is the precision of the steering and the way the yaw builds up. There's still a gap between where we are and where we want to be and the rear steering requires work, but we are getting our own “taste” into the car; it's not a BMW and not a Jaguar, but ours.”

In the next few months as the car gets near it's late-spring engineering sign off, Sato's prototypes will become more like the production cars, with carbon-fibre body parts which will reduce weight and alter the centre of gravity and the handling.

“We have got the basics right,” says Sato, “but it's that last 10 per cent that is so difficult.”

Sato's “irregulars” are now disbanded, which is right and proper, but all of us have amazing memories of our privileged involvement in the creation of a new production car, and I have grown to like and respect the engineering team which created it.

Before the engineering sign off they face another important test; Akio drives the car in late February. His peppery dressing downs of his engineering staff are legendary and for Sato and his team's sake, I just hope he likes it.

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For Akio Toyoda, president and CEO of Toyota Motor Corporation, the genesis of the Lexus LC 500 grand touring coupe came in August 2011, during the Pebble Beach Concours d’Elegance. As he strolled the famous golf links where hundreds of classic cars from such storied automakers as Bugatti, Ferrari, Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, and Porsche dotted the perfectly manicured 18th green like precious jewels strewn on a billiards table, inspiration hit him. But what struck him wasn’t anything he saw (although as a car buff, surely he was impressed with the jaw-dropping array of Ferrari 250 GTOs); no, the inspiration came from what he didn’t see. Or rather couldn’t even picture. Not. One. Lexus.

Then and there, Toyoda-san took the reins of his luxury brand. Lexus, just a couple decades old and a huge sales success in the U.S., needed a jolt. A revolution. A paradigm shift. It was time for Lexus to build cars as desirable and dynamic as they were reliable and quiet. Cars with equal parts sex appeal and spine-tingling performance—eye-catching to gaze upon and, just as important, eye-opening to drive. Luckily, the man needed to lead the charge was standing right next to him.

April 2012
Koji Sato, chief engineer of the LC project, looked at the prototype cobbled from a GS sedan and smiled. He had just put it through its paces at Toyota’s Higashi-Fuji Technical Center proving grounds and knew his team was onto something special. Eight months prior, he had been at Pebble Beach for the launch of the fourth-generation GS, a car for which he also served as chief engineer. But rather than celebrate the GS’ debut, his mind had become overwhelmed with the spontaneous and monumental directive his boss had just handed him. And little did Sato know at the time, but the LC’s platform would serve as the basis for Lexus’ next generation of premium rear-wheel-drive products.

Before chief engineer Koji Sato drives a shiny Lexus LC 500, he’ll return with a prototype to the Nürburgring as well as Toyota’s Shibetsu Proving Ground in Hokkaido for winter testing.
The Frankenstein GS had had its body cut and sewn—front tires pushed forward, engine lowered and moved aft of the front axle for a front-mid layout, battery relocated to the trunk for improved weight distribution, driver hip point shifted down and rearward for better feel and a lower center of gravity—but the powertrain specs and chassis tuning were left intact. Sato-san’s objective was to discern whether the fundamentals of the aptly named Inertia Spec platform were alive and kicking or dead on arrival. “I realized after one turn we were heading in the right direction,” Sato said. “The dynamics and feel were so improved from what we had known.” The end goal now was to squeeze the Inertia Spec’s fundamentals under a body that closely resembled the racy, low-slung LF-LC show car that had wowed attendees at the 2012 Detroit auto show three months earlier. It was that car that Akio Toyoda wanted to someday see gracing the greens at Pebble Beach.

January 2013
After a stint in Ann Arbor, Michigan, where he worked on the designs of the Avalon, Camry, and Tundra, Tadao Mori was assigned back to Toyota City, Japan, where he was given a new task: Shape the LC production car. If Mori-san were learning to swim designing the sedans and truck, he had just jumped into the deep end.

Rarely does a show car so closely parallel the subsequent street car, but in the evolution from LF-LC (above) to LC 500 (below), the resemblance is uncanny.

Working off the LF-LC concept, which was penned at Toyota’s Calty design studio in Newport Beach, California, Mori aimed to retain the overall taste, surface treatment, and stance of the show car, all while working closely with Sato’s team to accommodate the engineering goals. The latter is especially noteworthy because it represents a fundamental shift in Lexus development. Before LC, the process of creating a new platform was a six-year undertaking in which design and engineering predominantly worked separately. For LC, the timeline got fast-tracked to four years, design and engineering coming together as a single team from the start. Less about two groups compromising, more about one striving for a common goal.

Although the production LC bears a strong resemblance to the concept, every surface is new and every dimension changed. The breadth of the show car’s rear was deemed too wide for real-world application (6.6 inches wider than a 911 Carrera S), its roof too low to allow for the luxurious feel and space befitting a Lexus, and its hood and front fenders too close to the pavement for a suspension that needed to accommodate some semblance of wheel travel. So Mori stretched the overall length nearly 5 inches, trimmed the width 2.2, and raised the roof 3.1. And to make the 2+2 layout livable for adults, he lengthened the wheelbase 2.8 inches. All said and done, the LC 500 is larger in every dimension than a Mercedes SL550, but it’s tidier bumper to bumper than a BMW 650i, narrower than a Jag F-Type coupe, and shorter in height than an RC F.

The team from Toyota’s Calty design studio in Newport Beach, California, hard at work, sculpting the clay model of the 2012 LF-LC concept in 2011.
When asked how much of the show car was carried over, Mori smiles. “I believe 100 percent,” he says, “but with 20 percent of originality added.” That 20 percent refers to the reworked headlights with three super-small LED units, the revised cabin-to-wheel ratio, and the massaged surfacing and spindle grille. The feature he’s most proud of? The profile scoop situated at the lower rear quarter panel. Because the scoop is located “inside the architecture,” it required painstaking attention to maintain a pleasing design as well as extensive collaboration with engineering to ensure functional rear brake cooling and an uncompromised structure.

58 PHOTOS
Chief designer Tadao Mori, whose other love is guitar, says, “Playing in a band is like working with the LC team—you have to find harmony.”

The LC’s interior is the nicest to date of any Lexus. Warmer than the LFA’s, finer than the LS’, more advanced than the GS F’s. Interior designer Manabu Ochihata likes to think of it as a place of both driver focus and hospitality, and the small-diameter flat-bottom wheel with magnesium shift paddles mixed with acres of leather and Alcantara and real metal back up that view. The attention to detail is stunning. “Even the smallest switches took a lot of work,” Mori says.

December 2014
On game day, the Rose Bowl can house more than 95,000 people, its 20,000-plus parking spots packed as if cars were sardines. On this winter day, though, the stadium is silent and the parking spots empty, save for an autocross of orange cones and a camouflaged LC prototype wearing chopped LS bodywork. Our resident pro racer, Randy Pobst, is here, eager to shake down the mule and give Sato invaluable feedback.

Sure, this looks like a melted Porsche Panamera, but underneath the heavily camouflaged and chopped GS are the bones of an early Lexus LC Inertia Spec platform.
The stage-two prototype represents the first trial of the Inertia Spec structure and the all-new Aisin 10-speed automatic, which sports a heat-treated aluminum gear train (for less weight) and the lightest torque converter ever in a Lexus automatic. Sato says the 10-speed weighs less than the eight-speed it replaces, and it can shift gears in as little as 0.23 second. The automatic’s highest priority is shift speed, not smoothness.

“We are breaking many Lexus rules,” Sato says, noting that some shift shock under wide-open throttle is not only acceptable but also desirable.

There will be three more prototype stages, so this mule and all that it encompasses are to be assessed with that in mind. The main purpose of the exercise, Sato says, is to validate body stiffness, which, by the way, has already been measured to match the Mercedes-Benz S-Class in torsional rigidity.

Pobst makes a few runs in the prototype and then returns to the group. “The prototype turns very well with minimal understeer,” he says. “It was a little bit soft on transitions, leading to a tendency to oversteer on exit when going aggressively through a chicane. It needs a bit more damping for support and to slow the roll in the rear.”

Notes jotted down, Sato thanks Pobst. The next time they’ll meet will be at a proper racetrack with a proper car.

August 2015
Right about three years after that momentous trip to Pebble Beach, Sato is back on the Monterey Peninsula, though on this visit the corkscrew he’s about to sample has nothing to do with wine. The stage-three LC prototype sits in pit lane at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca, doors swung open, a team of engineers doing their best impersonation of an ALMS pit crew, jumping in and out of the seats, scampering hastily around the car, and holding laptops and test gear. Sato assures Pobst and me that the mule’s upper body resembles that of the forthcoming production car, but the swirling black-and-white zebra camouflage wrap leaves everything to the imagination.

Randy Pobst rings out the stage-three LC prototype at Mazda Raceway.
Twenty-inch alloys wearing BMW-spec Goodyears straight from a 650i coupe fill the LC’s wheelwells nicely. “Control tire,” Sato says, informing us the production LC will have forged 21s shod with next-gen run-flats from Michelin, Bridgestone, and Dunlop. Parked farther down pit lane are a 911 Carrera S, a Maserati Gran Turismo, and the 650i. Pobst will get a handful of laps in the LC only, but Sato’s team will sample the others—the BMW as the main target, the Maserati for engine and exhaust reference, and the 911 as the ultimate dynamic benchmark.

Pobst straps in and starts the engine, essentially the same naturally aspirated, 5.0-liter V-8 as in the RC F, though output is up slightly to 468 horsepower at 7,100 rpm and 391 lb-ft of torque at 4,800 rpm. It fires up with track-fitting authority thanks to a pair of exhaust sound control valves that open momentarily for full auditory effect. There’s even a sound generator in the engine bay to amplify the engine’s natural tune under acceleration, achieving a spectral map that approaches that of the V-10 LFA supercar but with more NASCAR rumble, less F1 wail.

After four laps, Pobst returns to pit lane. He’s smiling but shaking his head. “Car’s really good,” he says, “but is there any way to turn off the stability control?” Sato checks with his team and seems a bit dismayed when he has to report that for now VSC cannot be switched off. Otherwise, Pobst walks away full of praise. “Steering effort and feel are very good—European with some weight but not too much,” he says. “The car’s front is strong with excellent steering response and very little understeer at the limit. Turn-in generates a small amount of yaw then the car takes a well-balanced set mid-corner. The ride over the minor bumps of the curbs was very good with no vibration, implying a strong body structure.” As a racer, Pobst never forgets the brakes. “Brake feel is excellent. Firm pedal, strong bite, smooth ABS. Stable with no noticeable dive.”

Randy Pobst shares his thoughts with Koji Sato after lapping at MRLS. “The car is heavy at 4,300 pounds but handles that mass well. It feels much lighter and more agile.”
Sato appears pleased with Pobst’s comments, which jibe with the “precise, sharp, and natural” signatures he’s aiming to instill in the production car. He leads us through a walk-around of the prototype, pointing out the features he’s most proud of. The hood, he says, is lower than the 650i’s, a testament to chassis engineer Hiroyuki Masumo, who spent six months perfecting the geometry of the multilink suspension so it could nestle under the steeply raked aluminum yet still deliver accurate, sporty handling. Sato taps the front fenders and doors, noting that both are aluminum, too, as are the front bumper and suspension towers. “We adopted many lightweight items,” he says, also calling out that the inner doors and roof are carbon-fiber-reinforced plastic and the trunklid is resin with a sheet-molded-composite inner. Finally, he gestures to the lower middle of the driver door. “The heel-to-hip point is 200mm for a low driving position, and that point is 138mm behind the car’s center of gravity.” Translation: The driver’s hip point sits 7.9 inches above his heel point and only 5.4 inches aft of the center of gravity. For comparison, a Jag F-Type’s hip point to center of gravity is 14.0 inches. The best? The Porsche Cayman, at 0.

December 2015

Southern California isn’t known to be cold in December, but out at the high desert grounds of Willow Springs International Raceway in Rosamond, the early morning temperature hovers around 40 degrees. Luckily, Pobst and I don’t need to arrive until the warmer lunch hour, as Sato and his crew are using the morning to work on the performance of the 10-speed auto and to allow their guests from Bridgestone, who have brought the latest iteration of Potenza S001 run-flats, to have a go with the car.

Lexus estimates a sub-4.5-second 0-60 blast for the LC. That seems conservative.

Now in stage-four prototype form—basically stage three with next levels of suspension and transmission tuning—the LC mule looks as chilled as it does tired of wearing zebra camo. But the forged 21-inch wheels with right-size tires (245/40 front, 275/35 rear) lend the car a meaner stance. Sato is quick to point out to Pobst that the VSC can now be switched fully off, which along with the improved shift logic and new tires should significantly improve performance.

The LC stretches 187.4 inches long, 75.6 wide, and 53.0 tall, and it rides on a 113.0-inch wheelbase. A 468-hp, 5.0-liter V-8 moves the mass.
Lexus estimates a sub-4.5-second 0-60 blast for the LC, and watching Pobst rocket up Streets’ long, uphill section through Turn 1, that seems conservative. Ten laps logged, Pobst pits. “It has made great progress since my first track drive at Mazda Raceway Laguna Seca,” he says. “The transmission program is far more refined and smarter with still a bit more to go. It’s light on its feet for its mass, and the brakes impressed with their power and lack of fade. At this point, the car is soft on track and still bottoms easily, bounding over heavy impacts.” Sato and his team nod, noting that the Adaptive Variable Suspension (AVS) with next-gen dampers is about 70 percent there. “It’s a no-fear car at the limit,” Pobst continues. “I enjoyed the balance and stability and the car’s grip under acceleration, my fundamental favorite trait in race cars.”

Randy Pobst relays his impressions of the stage-four LC prototype to Koji Sato and Ron Kiino after a dynamic test session at the Streets of Willow Springs.
As we part ways with Sato, I tell him, “See you in a few weeks,” referring to the 2016 Detroit Auto Show, where the production LC 500 makes its world debut. For Sato, the journey began nearly five years ago at Pebble Beach. For us, it was at the Rose Bowl parking lot. Either way, it’s been a thrilling ride. After the stage-five prototype is built and later validated for final tuning, production will begin in late 2016, with sales commencing in early 2017.

“[Akio Toyoda] drove it six laps at Fuji Speedway,” Sato says, “and he was very happy with the natural feel and sharp precision.” If we’re lucky, we’ll be back in Detroit in a couple years for the unveiling of the rumored 600-horsepower, twin-turbo LC (LC F, anyone?). But hey, Akio might just save that for a surprise reveal at Pebble Beach.

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When a new model begins life as an exaggerated and highly stylised sketch, it’s no stretch to imagine that the look of the later physical concept will bend a few less laws of physics.

And, of course, the final road-going production model that follows – if production is confirmed at all – will usually do away with the concept’s most awe-inspiring aspects.

The slender futuristic headlights, the low-slung body, the 40-inch wheels that barely fit beneath the impossibly wide guards…


Subaru’s WRX concept stands out as a concept that dropped jaws before graduating to a less intimidating – if still purposeful – final production design.

The Suzuki Kizashi 3 concept is another well-remembered example. How different the brand’s fortunes in the mid-sized sedan segment might’ve been if that showstopper had made it to showrooms…

But, every now and then, a car maker hits it out of the park. The new 2017 Lexus LC500, for example.

When the LF-LC first appeared in 2011, fans wondered if it could be a successor to the LFA – or something more affordable and less extreme, like a next-generation SC.

Of course, there were question marks over whether any future production version could keep the concept’s mighty proportions and fine details intact. But Lexus had been starting to demonstrate a move towards a new ‘out there’ styling language and, it seemed, the odds weren’t so bad.

And, as the recent Detroit motor show revealed, those brave enough to bet on the concept’s styling will have been stoked to learn that not only is the LF-LC bound for production – but that the resulting LC500 coupe‘s styling is remarkably true to its roots.

Just how similar are these two cars, though? How faithful is the LC500’s design to the LF-LC that came before it?

We’ve put together a series of comparison shots here. Tell us what you think of the results, in the comments below.

Dead-on, it’s clear that the LF-LC is the less ‘realistic’ of the two vehicles, and that’s as it should be – although the photography suggests Lexus used a few lens tricks with the LF-LC shot.

There’s no denying, though, that the LC500 has looked to its concept progenitor in arriving at a wide and planted look.

Remarkably, there’s very little to set these two twins apart from the profile. Although not outright identical, both feature a super-sleek shape and traditional supercar proportions.

In production form, the LC wears an ever-so-slightly longer roofline, sheetmetal-mounted side mirrors and a proper door handle. There’s also a clear and unavoidable panel join at the base of the A-pillar, and the bonnet may be the tiniest bit taller – although that could be the angle of the vehicle in the photo.

Moving to the rear, the photography again suggests a wider look for the LF-LC, but the LC500’s muscly haunches are hardly far removed from the concept’s intent.

The LF-LC’s deep side channels below the tail-lamps are gone, as is the glowing perforated look to the plunging satin-silver trim

A taller rear deck features above a repositioned panel line, and larger exhaust finishers are fitted either side of the subtle diffuser.

It’s here that the LC500 delivers the most surprises, with Lexus’s designers staying very close to the original headlight and tail-lamp design. In both cases, the design remains remarkably faithful to the concept.

The differences are clear, but the similarities are exceptional. A rare result.

As with the lighting, the big new LC500 coupe’s C-pillar has carried over with only minor changes that could arguably be described as an improvement.

The wraparound look continues, while the chrome garnish has been made thicker and the long black side panel now subtly overlapping the glass of the rear window.

Inside is where the bulk of the changes have occurred, and it’s no surprise. Lexus has looked back to a more classic design in the cabin, while evolving the long two-tier dash design that has featured in its models for sometime now.

The effect remains rich and premium, however, comfortably matching – if not bettering – the cabins of its European rivals.

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At the Detroit Auto Show last week, I had a chance to sit down with Lexus International executive vice-president Mark Templin to discuss the importance of the new LC 500 coupe and what it means for Lexus moving forward.

Lexus Enthusiast: What do you want the LC to say about Lexus? What’s the message you want to get across?

It’s the future of Lexus. It gives you a really good indication of our design, of where the driving performance of our vehicles is going in the future. Both of [the LC and LF-FC concept] on stage really give you that indication.

How do you balance the strategic value of the LC as a halo car with finding sales success?

The LC is a flagship for the brand, it’s a very special car. If we were only concerned with selling volume, there are other segments to enter. But we want to build a really strong brand first. The LC and the upcoming fuel cell [in 2020] really help us build the brand.


When we showed the LF-LC concept four years ago, it was a design exercise. We never intended to build that car. It was to show people where we were going. But the response to that concept — from journalists, from our customers, from enthusiasts — was so strong that we had to build it. It only took six months after [the 2012 Detroit Auto Show] to say, “Ok, we need to green light LC, make it a real project.”

Our engineers and designers did something over the last three and a half years that would normally take six years to do. They built a whole new platform, a whole new powertrain with the ten-speed transmission, an all new suspension system. It all happened in a short period of time, relative to how long it normally takes.

It must have been very much a race to the finish right from the beginning…

After showing the LF-LC and deciding to build it, we had to bring it to market fast. We didn’t want to make people wait too long.

Did you ever consider reviving the SC nameplate?

The LC is a completely different segment to the SC, so we were very careful not to use the SC name. With the all-new platform and the craftsmanship and the technology that we’ve put into the LC, it competes with cars that are much more expensive.

The LC will start under $100,000, but under $100,000 is a lot different than the SC price.

You mentioned the fuel cell, is that tied to whatever production model the LF-FC becomes?

Around 2020, we will launch our first fuel cell. We’re not ready to talk about what kind of a product it will be, or what platform it will be, or anything else just yet.

What was the reception to the LF-FC?

It was great. We showed that car in Tokyo first, and the response on a global basis was very strong. Showing the car here in Detroit, the first time in North America, the LF-LC blew a lot of people away.

They can see the family resemblance with the LC and LF-FC. They can see it from a design standpoint, that we’re going in a consistent direction. It paints a good picture of what we’re going to be in the future.

The LC was almost a direct translation from the LF-LC concept. Was the reception to the LF-FC strong enough to justify a similar direct translation?

Could be! It was really well received. Usually, when you have a concept car and you bring that car to market, it ends up looking a little different.

In the case of the LC, everybody on the team was committed to making sure we kept the design as close as possible to the concept. It set a new direction for Lexus and how we work between engineering and design.

In the past, with most automakers, engineers and designers don’t always get along. Historically, designers have to make compromises depending on the hard points of the car. In this case, we didn’t do that. The compromises came as a team. The engineers designed new components just to make sure we didn’t have to change the design of the concept car.

A great example -— look at the LC, look at the top of the front tire and the top of the hood. We’ve never built a suspension system that would fit in that kind of space. Engineers designed an all-new suspension system for the LC specifically.

If you look from the back of the car, look at that nice greenhouse and the wide flat fenders that reach out. These are wider fenders than we’ve put on any car. Engineers had to find a new way to hang fenders on cars because of that.

Time and time again, the engineers figured out a way to make the design work.

I remember talking about how you removed a lot of bureaucracy from Lexus, reduced the amount of decision makers that have the final say on vehicles. This new way of engineering and designing seems like an evolution of that.

I think you’re right. It’s a continuation of what we started with Lexus International a few years ago. We created Lexus International to get rid of the layers and layers of decision makers.

We don’t have to work with the broader company as much. This means we don’t have to water down the designs from the concept phase to the time we bring the vehicles to market. We just keep evolving, keep thinking of ways to move forward faster and faster.

Let’s wrap my questions with a breakdown of 2015 and how you did globally…

We had a good year. Lexus is up about 12% worldwide, selling 652,000 cars. We were happy with that, both in North America and on a global basis. NX and RC was a big part of our success, as new cars with a full year of sales. We expect this new year to do the same thing.

As I’ve said for several years now, our goal is not to grow too fast. We want to grow in a nice, slow, methodical way. Our growth this year is more than we anticipated. It was a good year, and I want to grow another 5-10% every year for the foreseeable future.

We’ll have some ups and downs, depending on the flow of product and when product rollout comes along. We see a nice linear approach to our sales growth in the future, and this year shouldn’t be any different. The RX should drive a lot of that…

I saw how you saved the RX for 2016, so that will certainly drive sales growth. What should we be looking forward to in this new year?

A lot of success with RX. I wish we had more production capacity in December, we would have sold a lot more cars. The RX is so hot, there’s so many people waiting for one. That bodes well for the new calendar year, the plants are ramping up to build as many RXs as they can. That’s the big one for us.

We’re having a lot of success in North America with the SUV lineup. Dealers are clamoring for more LX, more GX, for more RX and NX. The SUV market in North America is really booming right now.

The luxury market is going strong, and we feel very confident that 2016 will carry on the momentum that we created over the last few years. We’ve just come off of three consecutive years of record sales growth, and we expect that to be the same again this year.

Let’s finish off with some reader questions — these might seem a little random. First off, what did Lexus learn from producing the LS 600hL? It was your first six-figure vehicle, what kind of feedback did you receive?

The team that launched the LS hybrid learned a lot from the research they did. It’s a very different group of buyers when you start talking about a $115,000 car versus the traditional $60,000-$70,000 car.

The way we have to market to those people is different. It’s more of a one-to-one relationship. People that are buying this type of vehicle are busy people with a very active lifestyle. They travel a lot, entertain a lot, they go to a lot of events. In order to reach them, you have to interact in a new way. That’s one of the biggest things we learned from a marketing perspective.

From a product perspective — we learned that if you’re going to spend that much money on a car, there’s an expectation that you get more than just a great car. You get a great experience, and throughout the ownership experience you’re going to be treated differently. We had to come up with new creative ways to do things for those people above and beyond what we normally do, which is already above what the rest of the industry does.

Can you mention any new markets that you’ll be entering into this year? I know there’s been mention of India.

I’m not going to talk about which markets, but I’m sure you can figure it out pretty quickly. We do business in 93 countries around the world. Our German competitors are, on average, in about 140 countries around the world. There’s a lot of places we could go to.

Our goal is to enter the regions with the biggest luxury car markets, the biggest opportunities. Some of those places are difficult because of the tax structures and high import taxes, but we’re not so concerned with volume as we are in establishing our brand.

There are about four markets that we’ll go into over the next couple years. I can’t mention which ones for a number of reasons, but we will announce when the time’s right.

Final question — what’s the outlook on body-on-frame versus unibody? Do you see a place for both types of vehicle in the Lexus lineup?

In the longterm, regulatory issues are going to force everyone in the industry to go to more unibody platforms. But in the short to mid-term, I still see a place in the lineup for a vehicle like the LX. We see that continuing for a long time.

There are markets around the world where a vehicle like the LX is really important. Eventually, every market in the world will have the same kind of regulations over CAFE and C02 emissions, and then eventually you will see even more unibody SUVs on the market in general.

That covers everything on the list, thanks for taking the time to answer our questions.

My pleasure, Kevin, thanks to you and your readers for these questions.

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When the new LC 500 sports coupe goes on sale in spring 2017, Lexus plans in the first full sales year to deliver 4,000 units in the U.S. and 6,600 globally.

Chief Engineer Koji Sato says Toyota’s GA-L platform will underpin the LC 500 and all future rear-drive models in the Toyota luxury brand’s lineup. Based on the current portfolio, that would include the next-generation LS, GS, IS and RC, with both rear- and all-wheel-drive powertrains.

Sato declines to say whether the platform might also be adopted for Toyota’s luxury lineup overseas, including the Crown models.

Unveiled in its production sheet metal at Detroit’s North American International Auto Show in January, the LC 500 is said to boost torsional rigidity 60% and chassis (side-force) rigidity 35% over the current GS sedan.

The car will feature a new triple LED headlamp unit and a slight upgrade of Lexus’ safety package, including pre-collision and lane-keep-assist technologies.

Lexus in the U.S. sold 344,601 vehicles in 2015, including 171,131 cars and 173,470 trucks, according to WardsAuto data. Sales grew 10.7% during the year.

In a separate interview, Lexus International Executive Vice President Mark Templin tellsWardsAuto LC 500 sales may surpass internal expectations, especially in the U.S.

“We have such a big following here in the U.S. So many of our loyal customers would like to have a car like this,” he says.

But perhaps more importantly, the coupe likely is to draw in buyers new to Lexus, Templin believes, based on the LC’s lauded and close-to-concept-car styling, new platform, new 10-speed automatic transmission and an expected base price of less than $100,000 in the U.S.

A sub-$100,000 starting price isn’t unheard of for the LC’s segment, which includes the $89,400 Porsche 911 Carrera and the $77,300 BMW 6-Series in the U.S.

But Templin also considers more “rare air” models such as the Mercedes-Benz S-Class coupe, Aston Martin Vantage and Maserati GranTurismo Sport to be competition. Those three start well north of $100,000.

“It’ll be a pretty spectacular car for the money vs. the other competitors,” Templin says. “This car will blow (the Vantage) away and the typical transaction price on a 6-Series is higher than what this will be. Optioned up (the LC will) go a little higher, but the base price you’ll see out there will be a nice car at a very good value proposition.”

Lexus envisions the LC 500 as one leg of a three-legged flagship strategy. Included in that is the car most view as Lexus’ flagship, the LS fullsize sedan, but Templin also includes in the mix the LX large SUV. Lexus sells six times more LX SUVs in the Middle East than in the U.S.


The 3-row ute may face regulatory pressure long-term, being a body-on-frame SUV, he says.

“But, in the mid-term I still see (large SUVs) being a really important product for us that will stay the course.”

For the next-generation LS, expected in 2018, Templin promises “some cool interior stuff for us. We’re really focused on technology; we’re really focused on craftsmanship. We’re going to do some things with the next-generation LS interior that we’ve never done with interiors before,” he says.

He stops short of saying what technology the new LS will have. The new BMW 7-Series has gesture-control technology, which allows drivers to change radio stations and turn up or down the temperature via specific hand movements.

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Lexus has released full details on the LC 500h hybrid coupe, including all specifications on the new Multi Stage Hybrid System.

For the first time ever, Lexus will combine a 3.5L V6 engine and electric motor with a lithium-ion battery packand a four-speed automatic gearbox mounted at the rear of the hybrid transmission. As a result, The LC 500h will feature a manual “M” mode, meaning the driver will have true gear shifts for the first time in a Lexus hybrid.

The LC 500h will have 354 total system horsepower, with a 0-100km time below 5 seconds.

• Dynamic luxury – a more elegant, evocative, and fluid interpretation of Lexus L-finesse design philosophy
• Brand-new Multi Stage Hybrid System offers exhilarating performance and greater efficiency
• Ultra-rigid yet light body with multi-link suspension for precision handling

GENEVA, Feb. 18, 2016 – First revealed by Akio Toyoda at the 2016 North America International Auto Show, the styling, performance and craftsmanship of the new Lexus LC 500 clearly position it as the flagship coupe of the Lexus lineup. Inspired by the acclaimed LF-LC concept that debuted in 2012, the LC represents a shift in Lexus’ engineering processes and design direction, and marks the beginning of a new phase for the Lexus brand.

For more info click on the link below.

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KRaZi said:

Anyone remember this 'Supra' render from a long time ago... similarities much? Could an insider have made the render thinking it was the Supra.. but it was the LC all along?

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gymratter said:

its just a render based on the LF-LC concept

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