Germans On the Run? Lexus Plotting A LF-1 Crossover In 2021

Gosh! So disappointed in Nissan/Infiniti.

The FX/QX70 was supposed to have occupied this market confidently today. Twin-turbo V6 & V8 versions should have been available today. Along with gas-electric hybrid versions being planned for the future.

the pic is like a F-Pace with Lexus front fascia.

I've seen the S52 QX70, it was beautiful. A mockup was shown at a shareholder's meeting back in 2015 and although it was bigger, it was still able to retain the roofline and looked much better than the last generation S51.

What is being proposed now, irritates the hell out of me, as the body proportions don't fit a FWD biased chassis.

Infiniti nearly invented the "coupe" crossover, as early as 2000 (first gen S50 design finished)

Sign me up.

I wouldn't buy it based on the front end alone.
Toyota will move units; sending Germans on the run?... no

Agree. It is not a zero sum game versus the Germans. I saw this at the Chicago Auto Show and it was stunning and bold. Full size luxury SUVs are a growth market. It will be successful, but not at the expense of the established players.

This will give buyers a choice. Just like Land Rover. If you want the real deal you by the LX570 / Range Rover. If you want style over substance, you get this LF-1 RX-Maxi model with 3 rows or a Velar.

If you want an antiquated tractor you go with the LX570 which cannot be compared to a Range Rover. That would be as nonsensical as saying a Trabant is the equal of an S Class. The LX is a 23 year old chassis that is desperately in need of a clean sheet approach.

Agree Lexus needs to replace the LX with something like this.
Keep the Land Cruiser and update it as aToyota for those parts of the world that use it.
Kill the GX. I don't see any on the road.

@ Truthy kill the GX? It's a cash cow for Lexus and its moved over 2-2.5K per month on a 10 year-old model. There are still a lot of demand and juice left on that truck.

Does MDR ever know what he's talking about, aside from foaming at the mouth?

I would love to hear evidence of how the J200 LX is based on a1996 model, considering how I work in this industry and have a vast library of automotive literature and artifacts, plus notes from retired engineers and ex-employees of various OEMs throughout the years.

I mean, for the Ford F-Series (you also complain about), it's obvious the Ford P Platform made its debut in 1998 with the PHN131 Super Duty, particularly with that window dip design signature used since 2003 on the F-150.

But beyond that, I don't see where you get your inane, factless theories that Toyota has used the same vehicle architecture since the mid-1990s.

I honestly just don't say anything if I don't know what I am talking about.

From 1991 to October 1993, Toyota designers worked the 100-Series program. By May 1994, they completed the cubing process and the final design was frozen.

In the summer of 1997, after numerous prototype builds since 1994, pilot production began following engineering sign off. January 1998 was SOP and launch March 1998.

Where does 1995 or 1996 fit into that MDR? It is better to be thought a fool, than not stay silent and confirm for everyone what they think.

@Carmaker1 Do some research dumbass. The J80 Land Cruiser debuted in 1990. The J100 of 1998 was a mild revamp. The J200 of 2007 was another mild update. Thus, the basic Land Cruiser has not been a clean-sheet design for THIRTY years.

@MDR

Seems like you're the dumbass, as that wasn't a mild revamp. A mild revamp doesn't take 6-7 years from start to finish from 1991 to 1997 (J80 Job1 was over 1 yr before that) and then 4.5 years from styling approval in 1993 to 1998 to Job 1 in 1998.

I have every single written word about the 100 programme, which I doubt you are actually aware of.

The 105-Series only comes closest to your bloody uninformed claim and maybe that of the J120 to J150.

Nor is it "23 years old" as you claim you mouth breathing dimwit.


You make these inane guesstimates as a self important car sales boy, when the lot on the lot of you on the floor know squat product planning and deeper tenets of vehicle engineering.

I cannot stand peanut gallery dimwits giving themselves the floor to mislead people with BS thoughts.

Perhaps you should stick to conjuring up your next sales tactic, versus spewing misleading BS as if it were fact?

Thank you, signed The Industry.

Needs to be bolder and more luxurious

With Lexus and Tesla having the German on the run, VW/BMW/Mercedes are bound to be out of business any day now.

LOL.

Unibody SUV with longitudinal engine and RWD / AWD is something Lexus is missing. Infiniti had it and got rid of it.
Transversal engines are OK for econoboxes, not for luxury SUV's.

If the 650B program stays on time, then it should be arriving at the end of next year.

They are quietly showing the production model internally or at least a mockup of it.

I don't know if it's a fibreglass or painted clay. It's just sad that Infiniti back in 1999 almost made a rebadged Murano for 2002 launch, but decided to utilize the FM platform at Ghosn's suggest.

Yet, he was the reason 17 years later to scrap the 2019 redesign and go FWD/AWD.

I even like the prototype I saw, which was better looking than this rendering and the overwrought LF-1 concept.

*suggestion (stupid keyboard)