Since it's entrance into the marketplace, the Lexus RX-Series has been an all out home run for Lexus and an absolute nightmare for the competition.
It has been so successful for them you would almost think there was some magic dust sprinkled on it.
We all know previous success is NO guarantee for future sales and with gas prices as high as they are, the deck is leaning in the wrong direction for launching an SUV.
So the pressure couldn't be higher on their engineers for the next RX.
It HAS to be right.
Absolutely, positively, bang on perfect.
So here is the latest information courtesy of a dealer salesperson who is a fan of AutoSpies.com.
Turns out all the salespeople were invited to a training and a lot of the details on the new RX were shared with them.
And some of them will be surprising.
The official intro will be at the 2009 Detroit Auto Show and it will look very similar to the concept in the photos here.
Not surprising right?
So here are the surprises that might or might not make you happy.
1. No third row seat in the 2010 RX. Seems like the family of SUV's philosophy that have different feature sets will continue on, versus a one vehicle does it all strategy.
2. And taking a page out of the BMW playbook, NO MORE touch screen nav system. The RX nav will be totally controlled by an iDrive-like console mounted knob.
Of course, these could still be rumors but the salesperson assured us it is true.
But it sure seems strange to us that Lexus would mess with a nav system no one on earth doesn't love.
Anyone care to guess why they would switch to a system that seems like a step backwards and forgo the 3rd row seat when even the Highlander has one?
And any other salespeople who attended this care to share their findings?
Anonymous of course... ;)