The luxury promising sub-division of Toyota Motors that has gathered much speculation and awe of the Indian customers has finally hit the markets in all of its valor. It shall be imported as completely built units till the time its manufacturing plants are not set up in the native country itself. Initially, the company has launched 2 SUVs LX550d and RX450h and the premium sedan ES300h, as was expected. Its showrooms shall be situated n Mumbai, Delhi and Bengaluru as of now.
The outside of the car shall have all new front grille design that is different from all. It covers the whole bonnet with an hour-glass looking slat- shaped front grille, along with LED DLRs headlamps. All the models are longer than 4 meters and possess a wheelbase ranging from 2.7 to 2.8 meters.
The SUV based hybrid RX450h shall carry 3.5-litre V6 petrol engine compatible to Toyota’s hybrid system operated via eight-speed CVT gearbox to generate 312 bhp of peak power and 361Nm of peak torque. It shall go against popular and recently launched Mercedes-Benz GLC and the BMW X3. It is priced @ Rs. 1.07 crore. On the inside, it has 12.3-inch infotainment system, retractable moon roof, optional rear-seat entertainment system, Lexus Safety System+ that includes pre-collision system (PCS), lane departure alert (LDA) and automatic high beam (AHB).
The ES300h will borrow its motors from Toyota's Camry, ie, 2.5-litre petrol engine controlled via six-speed CVT gearbox to generate 202 bhp of maximum power 336 Nm of maximum torque. Being the imported unit along with all its customs duties and taxation, the car shall come with a heavy pricing as high as Rs. 55.27 lakhs, after the relaxation of Rs. 1.38 lakhs owing to the FAME subsidy on electric vehicles. It shall go against the already existing strong brand values like Mercedez- Benz E- class and BMW 5 series. The Lexus ES300h has taken a serious care of the safety provisions with 10 airbags as well as the Lexus Safety System+ with Steering Assist, Intelligent High Beam (IHB), High-Speed Dynamic Radar Cruise Control, and High-Speed Dynamic Radar Cruise Control system that works at speeds over 40 km/hr.
The SUV LX450d is powered by a 4.5-litre V8 diesel engine generating 268 bhp of peak power and a peak torque of 650 Nm operated via 6 -speed automatic transmission. The price of the LX 450dis not yet revealed.
It is no doubt that the market inclination is towards SUVs owing to their heavily packed features and cost effectiveness. Thus, Indian market might turn out to be a profitable inn for the Lexus brand.
