Lexus At The Sunday Times Motor Show Live

• Lexus stand embraces the theme of The Future of Lexus
• UK debut of the Lexus LF-X concept car, revealing Lexus’s future design language
• UK debut of the Lexus RX400h, the world’s first hybrid power 4×4
• Lexus celebrates its fourth successive Gold Award in the J.D. Power and Associates Customer Satisfaction Survey
• UK sales up by more than 40 per cent in 2004, the largest growth among premium manufacturers

Visitors to the Lexus stand at the Sunday Times Motor Show Live will be given an exciting insight into the future of the brand with the display of the stunning LF-X concept car and the radical hybrid power RX400h.

The LF-X provides pointers to what a future Lexus “crossover” model might look like, but the RX400h is a full production model that will be arriving in the UK in 2005. It is a landmark vehicle, the world’s first hybrid power SUV. Not only will it deliver substantial improvements in the key areas of fuel economy and emissions, it will offer the kind of uncompromised performance, quality and refinement that are at the heart of all Lexus models.

The LF-X (Lexus Future – Crossover) is a fully realised concept vehicle that blends the robustness and street presence of an SUV with the dynamic lines of an advanced saloon. It has been created using a completely new Lexus design language that will characterise a future generation of Lexus models.

In the first four months of 2004, Lexus sales have soared by more than 40 per cent compared to the same period last year. That’s the largest growth by far among premium brands and the third largest among all manufacturers.

The introduction of the new LS430 and RX300 models, both launched in the past year, has proved a big success: so far this year LS sales are 45 per cent up on 2003, while the RX has achieved a phenomenal rise of more than 500 per cent on the previous model’s figures, firmly establishing it as the nation’s most popular petrol-powered premium SUV.

The achievements of these models and the sustained strong performance of the IS sports saloon series also helped Lexus to its highest March sales results yet.

Sales volume and market share are just one dimension of Lexus’s success. Its reputation for providing sales and service of the highest quality has been reinforced with a series of notable awards. Foremost among these is the J.D. Power Gold Award, which Lexus claimed for the fourth year running. More than that, it improved its performance in key categories to take first place with a score of 848 points out of a possible 1,000, the highest tally in the survey’s 11-year history.

Lexus was also named Best Manufacturer in the 2004 Auto Express Driver Power Awards, another honour which is based on the opinions and experiences of motorists themselves, rather than industry experts and commentators.

ENDS