2017 Lexus LS

As per the reports of an Australian auto website, an anonymous source has claimed that the Japanese car major is contemplating on introducing a new hydrogen powered variant of its flagship Lexus full sized luxury sedan model.

The news comes has arrived just less than a month’s time that Toyota has offered the Mirai FCV on sale in the car market of Japan. However, the first hydrogen fuel cell electric vehicle or FCEV, the Toyota Mirai is yet not open for sale to the general mass and will be sold only to the government organizations. Nevertheless, another Toyota FCEV will definitely not be of any harm, especially when Toyota is all praises about it. And if this new Fuel Cell car is a Lexus model, then it will certainly lure in many elite buyers for the car maker. In the meanwhile, Toyota will start selling the Mirai in United States and Europe in 2015.

The speculated Lexus LS FCEV will be utilizing the same Fuel Cell powertrain of Toyota that is employed in the Mirai. The only difference is, while the entire Mirai is built from scratch, the Lexus LS is already an existing luxury sedan that will be simply fitted with the new Fuel Cell system along with some modifications made to accommodate the same. According to the reports, the Lexus LS FCEV will be featuring a reworked front face including new air intakes that will facilitate enough ventilation for the hydrogen powered powertrain. The reports also say that the Fuel Cell system in the Lexus LS will be placed under its two front seats while Toyota will place the hydrogen tanks under and behind the rear seats.

The Fuel Cell system in the Lexus LS is said to around 200 kg lighter as compared against the V8 gasoline-electric 600h Lexus LS hybrid version’s powertain. Thus, the Lexus LS FCEV version is thus expected to be pretty powerful with its powertrain. It is likely to offer up to 239 miles of pure eco-friendly driving, which is lower than the 300 miles range of the Mirai.

However, this news regarding the upcoming Lexus LS FCEV is purely based on speculations, as none of it has been confirmed by Toyota. However, the Japanese auto giant did say earlier that following the Mirai, it will start working on other FCEV models.

The same auto site has also reported that Toyota Motor is also contemplating to launch the hydrogen fuel cell versions of many other vehicles including the Crown and the Corolla.

The reports surely go with the Toyota CEO Akio Toyoda’s words at the Mirai’s unveiling, that a world full of green vehicles will lessen the oil dependence and reduce environmental damage.

Lexus LX570 Off-Roading

The weakened macro-economy has hit Indian market hard; it’s had a major effect on car sales. For two continuous years, companies have not been able to make profits; it was only during the period of 2014 May that signs of recovery were noted. The market conditions has not yet reached normalcy, visible on high inflation rates.

Toyota has a strong brand presence in India, and the popular models are Etios Liva hatchback and Etios sedan. The company has plunged into a new line of creativity visible on Etios Liva cross and all new Corolla Altis. Etios Liva cross is a cross model of Etios hatchback, its cross identity is highlighted by side cladding, silver roof rails and bull bar. The new Corolla Altis is the eleventh generation model and is garnished with a more premium dressing. The two cars are instant blockbusters since inception in 2014 May.

Toyota’s vision to introduce Lexus LX570 SUV is a practical move, and is an addition to the desirable range of vehicles along with new Altis and Etios Cross. The test model of Lexus LX570 has arrived in India, and is an indication that India is an attractive destination. Lexus LX570 will drive the public insane, it’s got spectacular looks and power, it is a car for the ambitious youth and sports an ideal homely stance. The petrol car is equipped with a fierce V8 5.7 liter engine that produces 546Nm and 383bh, and is coupled with six speed automatic electronically controlled transmission. It’s got enormous acceleration power and covers a distance of 0 to 100 kmph in just 7.5 seconds.

Toyota has produced instant wonders in every segment, its best selling products in sport utility vehicle and multipurpose vehicle market is Fortuner and Innova. Innova is a popular car among the robust nuclear family system in India; it is a source of inspiration for Honda that recently launched Mobilio to fight the arch battle with Innova. Fortuner has incredible style and energy, it run on a marvelous turbocharged engine that never tires. A group of people have travelled all over India and even the world on the world class Fortuner.

As mentioned earlier Lexus is a marvel in overseas markets, it’s not so popular in India. This would probably be Toyota’s first stint with Lexus LX570, it’s got menacing engine power, and the desirability effect may be on par with Fortuner. Lexus is an addition to the already amazing range of cars; it surely has the power to enhance the market share value of the firm.

The testing of Lexus LX570 is fantastic news for luxury car buffs, if the car is in the testing stage, then the launch is not too far away. Let’s wait for more intriguing information in the months to come.

lexus lfa

Toyota Motor, which is known as the Toyota Kirloskar Motor (TKM) in India has revived its thoughts to launch the Lexus brand in India, as the market is showing immense potential for expensive luxury car models. Despite the long two year slump in the general car market, there have been high demands for the high-end vehicles. In fact, the volume of growth for the premium vehicle market in India has been in double digit speed for three consistent years now. Thus, the luxury market though still considerably small in India is incredibly potential and is expected to grow by leaps and bounds, now that the general sentiment of the market has improved.

Toyota Motors offers its luxury car brand Lexus for sale in all major car markets of the world, with its demands being the highest in the car market of the US. TKM had all plans to introduce its Lexus brand to the Indian car market back in the year 2012. However, the plan was because of extremely high import excise duty slapped on the luxury vehicles by the Indian government. The plan was rather shelved because of the sluggish local car market and low sales rates for the Toyota cars in India.

Similar to the global luxury car market, the Indian luxury car segment is also ruled by the German luxury auto major trio, namely BMW, Audi and Daimler’s Mercedes-Benz. The luxury car sales in India have witnessed amazing growth in the last three year’s time with sales figures in the market being almost doubled between the year 2010 and 2014.

The reason behind the rise of the luxury car market in India is primarily the expansion of the so called elite class. More Indians have high income rates now, and this has resulted in the improvement of their lifestyles and thus, the rise in demands for the high-end cars in the domestic car market of India. The overall improvement of the Indian economy and the fast development of the Indian car market is also highly responsible for this high demands for the luxury cars. Moreover, the Indian car market has become highly matured now. It has come a long way from a market for only the cheap, small, fuel efficient cars to the more stylish, feature-rich, bigger cars with exclusive appeal. In this hunt for exclusivity, the rich Indians are thus not hesitating in investing in luxury cars.

Toyota is expecting the growth in the Indian luxury market to remain strong and is now looking to take a slice of it. The managing director of TKM, Naomi Ishii said that the luxury segment is a really prized segment and the company needs to go for it.

Lexus Integrated Saftey Car

Needless to say, Toyota Motor which is the world’s largest selling car maker has also joined the automated vehicle bandwagon. Toyota is always very keen on anything that is considered farfetched, innovative and even off-beat, and thus the automated driving technology has been on its cards. However, Toyota being a more environmental friendly automaker went against this technology recently as it thinks that this technology will eventually accounts for more long distance travel and involve greater fuel consumption.

Nevertheless, given to peer-pressure Toyota is said to be planning to get the automated driving to the roads by mid-decade. The Japanese auto giant has showcased its advanced automated vehicle technologies at the 4^th annual Toyota Advanced Safety Seminar held in Michigan. The displayed technologies included environment-mapping systems from Toyota which can effectively track objects on the road be it day or night, 3D information displays which transforms the abilities to offer road information to the driver, and an advanced driving support system which will be offered to U.S customers in near future. Toyota being a safety specialist also focused more on the safety features of its automated cars and showed how the advanced autonomous vehicles that can safely drive even at high speeds as well as in severe weather conditions.

The Chief Safety Technology Officer Secretary for Toyota Motor Corporation, Seigo Kuzumaki while speaking on the automated technology said that the company has a vision of a world free of traffic fatalities, and these advanced automated vehicle technologies have the potential to revolutionize the future automotive safety. Toyota is committed to offer advanced safety systems to the masses as soon as possible and will also make these technologies accessible to a wide range of drivers as well.

Toyota also unveiled its Automated Highway Driving Assist (AHDA) system in Japan last year, which is designed to work together with the driver behind the steering wheel to drive the car safely. This technology’s latest version has been programmed based on the real life traffic conditions in the US and can operate at the speeds of up to 70mph. The AHDA system combines three core technologies of Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, Lane Trace Control and Predictive & Interactive Human Machine Interface.

These three technologies combine together to help the drivers maintain speed limits and drive more comfortably and safely. It also assists the drivers to effortlessly and safely detect an appropriate path within the lane with the help of the signals from a front camera and radar. The technology also offers smooth transitions from automated to manual driving modes.

lexus lfa

Toyota owned luxury brand Lexus has had the long-term plan of a successor to the brand’s limited model LFA supercar. This limitedly produced Lexus LFA supercar might spawn an all-new supercar which is not only going to be the heartthrob in terms of style as well as in terms of dream performance, according to the Vice President of Lexus, Mark Templin. However, according to him the car could take as long as three decades before it actually hits the market.

Templin said that Akio Toyoda believes that every generation deserves to get a fabulous car such as the LFA, thus the company is working on an LFA for today’s generation Templin said in Japan before a program for the new Lexus NX crossover. He also said that at some point of time, there might also be another special car for the next generation. He did not however, offer any other details or specific time periods for the same.

Toyota had stopped the production of the limited Lexus LFA supercar back in the year 2012. Ever since, the Japanese auto giant has not had a flagship supercar model under its brand name. There had been several talks and speculations of a potential successor to the LFA supercar. However, nothing actually materialized out of those. It is also known that Toyota had contemplated to bring out a successor to the car. However, those contemplations and discussions of the company eventually did not become fruitful and nothing has come out so far. Though the company has denied these reports so far, now it finally accepts that there is actually a free place at the top of its range and it will like to get it filled up at some point of time.

The LFA’s total development took around 9 years, and the company took out a bare minimum 500 units of the supercar, which was a loss-making project for the car maker. Selling more units of the car would have helped make great profits for the company, but Toyota did not do that just to save the car’s exclusive tag.

The successor Toyota supercar would most probably get the powertrains of RC F’s 5.0 liter V8 motor combined with an efficient electric motor coupled with a superb 10-speed transmission. Lexus also showcased an LF-LC coupe concept model at the 2012 Detroit auto show, which the car maker has not still made hitting the production. Whether and when the LFA successor is coming, is thus still in darkness, but it will come for sure.

Lexus nx crossover

Ishii said that the company sees a lot of opportunity in the Indian car market now. This is because the company can witness that the three German luxury brands are doing quite well in India. He added that he feels that the company really needs to bring in the Lexus here. Ishii also pointed out that in the luxury car segment in India, the company wishes to be different than that of the major German players.

Despite the consistent decline in the new car sales in India over the last two years, the luxury car segment is the only one that has seen considerable growth in India, with a healthy margin of 30,000 to 40,000 vehicles per year. Needless to say, that the major chunk of this sales growth was witnessed by the three German luxury car behemoths, namely Mercedes-Benz, BMW and Audi. As the German luxury trio is doing well in the Indian luxury car segment, the world’s largest car maker, the Japanese Toyota Motor thinks that the Indian auto market is mature enough to launch its very own luxury brand Lexus.

Toyota Kirloskar’s maximum sales numbers are currently coming from its Etios sedan and the Etios Liva hatchback. However, Mr. Ishii said that the company is not happy with the overall volume and is now planning to expand its footprint to the tier 2 and 3 non-metro cities of India to reach out to a larger group of customers.

The company has recently launched a new member in the Etios series in the form of the Etios Cross, and has also launched the all new 2014 Corolla sedan. Both the cars have launched in India last month and are receiving good amounts of bookings.

The very muscular and trendy looking Etios Cross is a beefed-up version of the Etios Liva hatchback, and is expected to be a good seller. Priced at Rs. 5.76 lakhs, the Etios Cross is competing with the likes of Volkswagen Polo Cross. On the other hand, the 2014 Toyota Corolla is expected to boost the company’s sales considerably. The 11^th generation sedan model comes with a new bold visual appeal, stylized and sharp front fascia, enhanced interiors and better ride and handling features. These two new cars from Toyota Kirloskar are expected to give satisfactory sales rates this year after a long sales slump.

As for the introduction of the Lexus in India, Toyota Kirloskar may bring it sooner than later considering that it has already announced that it will only focus on the bigger and more expensive cars.

Lexus nx crossover

Last year both BMW and Audi outsold Toyota’s Lexus therefore Toyota is adopting all means at its disposal to win over customers of these luxury brands to Toyota. Since China presently is the largest market for luxury cars all large brands like Audi, BMW, Mercedes have set up production units to gain advantage over imported models. Therefore to make its latest Lexus NX a success in China, Toyota has to set up a factory in China as it hopes to sell more than two thousand units within first year of launch which will help it to capture 1.3 percent of premium car segment. Market researchers have predicted that NX’s sales will grow at a rapid pace due to design and pricing enabling Toyota to sell nearly 5000 units within 6- 7 years of launch.

According to Toyota’s spokesperson, the Lexus NX will be first Lexus model with turbocharged power and will be part of the firm’s global range of vehicles. Toyota will be introducing around 14 new engines to boost fuel efficiency and one of them will be this new turbocharged variant which is a first by Toyota’s standards which till now has believed in improving combustion power of engines instead of using turbochargers. Lexus has been among Toyota’s top selling brands and last fiscal it sold around 523000 units among which 50 percent of sales were to United States accounting for 273847 units and growth of 12 percent since last year.

Even though Toyota was world leader on basis of total sales, it lost out to BMW in terms of luxury car sales. With total sales of 1.66 million which was a record of sorts for this German carmaker, BMW was just a few million ahead of closest competitor Audi which sold 1.58 million followed by Mercedes at 1.46 million. The Toyota Lexus NX has been built on its LF-NX concept which has trapezoidal radiator grille extending from hood to bottom cutting through front bumper and containing eye shaped headlight cluster with LED daytime running lights. Its interiors will be outfitted with black and yellow leather upholstery and blue lighting on dashboard. Toyota has announced that this new Lexus NX will be shown to selective press members before official presentation at Beijing Auto Show on 23 April 2014.

UK is facing a black turnover with the pollution level being the highest in years, and the consequences are pretty grave. It has taken a toll on health and the statistics reveal the death of 5,000 young people. Hybrid cars are built to fight the alarming increase in pollution, but minimal traces of reduced carbon-dioxide, and nitrogen oxides. Petrol hybrids are cost effective as well, and the expenditure volume on fuel and tax is lesser.

The General Manager of Toyota and Lexus Fleet services commented on the side effects of hybrid diesel models, and stated, ‘’the air has chunks of impure material, and is a cause of concern for the citizens of the country, diesel hybrids are beneficial but are primary sources of air pollution, and the outcome is unfavorable in spite of the costly measures taken to minimize emission output with the fitment of filters and catalytic converters.

The European Union is in distress over the increase in nitrogen dioxide levels from diesel hybrid units, and the figures have shot up to unimaginable levels in many cities in Britain. The emission output in diesel hybrids is enormously high; now let us compare the statistics with petrol hybrids. With petrol hybrids, particulate materials are washed out, and the amount of nitrogen dioxide releases is miles lower than its diesel counterpart. The average emission rate is one tenth of diesel hybrids, and this figure was provided by Euro 6 legislation authority.

To combat the bulk of particulate emission emitted by diesel hybrids, the government will look into certain parameters. It will authorize speed limit and many others. It will not be tougher for diesel cars to move in accordance with regularized emission levels.

Regulatory authorities are of the view that petrol cars are more fuel economical, and hence a natural medium to preserve cost, there are however other factors that come into the act, the most crucial being vehicle maintenance. Petrol hybrid cars are more convenient, with no drive belts, start motor, and brake pads last for years, and the secret to this is the advanced regenerative brake technology. Tax liabilities are lower than diesel cars and in UK; employers can take home the benefits of the attractive company tax advantage scheme, and also lower Class 1 National Insurance contributions.

How much consumers can save is based on important criteria’s which is purchase mode and mileage. According to Toyota and Lexus Fleet services, about 4,000 pounds can be preserved on 200h S Lexus CT, for 3 year period that would cover 60,000 mile cycle and the amount saved in BIK personal tax is 2,000 pounds.

Diesel hybrids have had harsh side effects on UK citizens, and regulatory authorities are working on reducing particulate and nitrogen oxide emissions. The pollution scene is rampant in India, and would be useful if regulatory agencies take charge to bring down emission levels in cars.

Toyota’s constant endeavors to offer superb quality and dependability has been realized and appreciated well all over the world. Recently again, A New York-based consumer study has listed the Lexus, Toyota as well as the Acura as the top 3 most reliable vehicles for the year 2014.

The luxury Lexus brand from Toyota and the patent cars from the house of Toyota such as the Camry, Corolla and Tundra have been extremely popular in the US car market. These cars have always sailed through the top of the list of the bestselling cars in the car market of America. Toyota cars are always greatly appreciated for their great overall built quality, fabulous convenience feature package, safety features and reliable on-road performance.

The auto reliability survey of the Americans base their study on those car owners’ predictions for the upcoming cars and trucks, who have bought the vehicles of the most current or just a previous model year. The study also reveals that the American car consumers mostly prefer the Japanese car makers over the home grown ones, and 7 out of the top 10 car brands for the 2014 study are Japanese companies.

The only 3 non-Japanese car brands that have made it to the top 10 list for the 2014 most reliable car survey are Audi, General Motors and Volvo.

The interesting fact is that the survey also found few of the Japanese brands among the most unreliable cars list as well. The survey says that it is not recommending to the consumers to buy the 2014 models of the Nissan Altima and Honda Accord V6 sedans because according to the present consumers, the cars score very poor on reliability compared against the other car models.

Currently, Toyota is busy working on the various upcoming new generation models of its various popular car brands. Apart from being the pioneer of the hybrid cars Toyota is also the leading car maker that is advancing increasingly on the most speculated green car technology, Hybrid Fuel Cell technology. Toyota is not only going to bring in the next-generation model of the iconic Prius Hybrid vehicle, but also all braced up to introduce the Hydrogen powered Fuel Cell sedan. The Toyota Fuel Cell sedan is also claimed to be much affordable than expected before. Moreover, Toyota is also reportedly working on an all new design language for the next-gen Prius in order to offer a great new visual appeal to the consumers.

Highlander Hybrid SUVs for recall were formed since 2006 to 2010 and it is just about 133,000 MY in numbers and Lexus RX 400h coupes starting from 2006 up to 2008, which is just about 102,000 MY. They have also included the other model for recall which are Lexus IS 350 coupe, IS 350C car range, as well as GS 350 vehicles produced from 2006 to 2011.

The Toyota Motors’ automaker is now functioning on obtaining the required alternative parts. Once the alternative parts are on hand, they will notify specific the owners. The owners will be contacted and notified of the recall through mail within next year.

Once the alternative parts have been formed in adequate quantities, the company will make the replacement with no charge. If the owner missed to respond in the first mail, they will call them with second notification and advices the first owners to contact the dealers of the Toyota company with their Proper IPM.

Reason for recall:

Highlander hybrid SUVs:

The highlander hybrid SUVs as well as Lexus RX 400h of Toyota is recalled for the following reason. In the Highlander hybrid, the transistors are builtcontrol board with parallel circuits. The variations caused in these parallel circuits originate heat damage in the inverter of the highlander Hybrid system.  These eventually illuminate the numerouscautionaryilluminations located on the toolsection and in many rapid cases it results in home mode of the limp that is they can be driven for some short distances. In some instances, the system of the hybrid shuts down automatically which subsequently results in stopping of the vehicle that’s driven.  These happen only during high load driving which causes high current flow.

Lexus RX 400 h:

The Lexus Rx 400 h is recalled for the other reason which is also causing the vehicle to stop at the moment of driving. The bolts used to safe the timing controllermethod of the variable valve may become loose which ends up in stopping the vehicle. The vehicle also gives a warning of abnormal sound immediately after start up.

The owner can connect with the dealer immediately after receiving the mail from the Toyota.