Lexus LF-LC Concept to be put into production in 2016
The dramatic LF-LC was first seen at the Detroit motor show in 2012, and Uyttenhoven said that company boss Akio Toyoda “doesn’t want the production car to look any different from the concept”. Uyttenhoven said that the LF-LC concept was anything between 90 and 100 per cent representative of the production car, which he has seen. Previous speculation has suggested that the production LF-LC would take the LC badge for production, and would be based on a shortened version of the LS’s underpinnings.
“The production LF-LC will not be huge volume [car] for Lexus, but it will bring huge emotion,” said Uyttenhoven. “Every year there will be a new model for Lexus, either a volume car like the NX or a model to boost brand image [like the LF-LC].” With the NX planned to be introduced as 2014’s new car, next year will see the introduction of the RC-Coupe, including the range-topping 450bhp 5.0-litre V8-powered RC-F version. The RC-F will be the first version of the RC to be sold in Europe, with an initial run of 500 units planned. Uyttenhoven revealed that one third of that allocation was destined for the UK.
Further variants of the RC are planned, including a staple RC300h hybrid version and a RC200t version that uses the new 2.0-litre turbo petrol engine found in the NX. That new engine is also destined for the IS and GS, Uyttenhoven revealed. The plan to introduce one new model a year is part of Lexus’s wider aspirations to double its European sales to 100,000 units by 2020. In the first six months of this year, it sold 24,586 cars in Europe.
Source: Autocar