GFerg

Sounds good. I'm thinking they will be getting the new RX and possibly a smaller SUV or some sort of CUV. Cant see Lexus getting a big SUV like the LX or GX over there.

MSMLexIS

Cant wait to see. The JDM Lexus lineup needs more vehicles.

BLK13X

Interesting, that. Here in Oz the RX is up against the X5. The GX is a Toyota here and are all over the place (would be nice if they had the Lexus ones here, oh well).

encore888

Right, same here in the U.S. to a large extent. Yes, there may be some cross-shopping with the X3, but the larger competition is with the X5. However the lineups aren't exactly 1-for-1 competing.

Consumer Reports here in the U.S. tested the RX 350 against the X5 in its 'midsize luxury SUVs' category

Consumer Reports further tested the X3 against the Murano, RDX, RAV4, etc. as 'crossover SUVs' - probably noting that these vehicles are smaller inside.

Nextourer

My guess is a new crossover wagon/SUV thing. Sorta like the RX but with 3 rows of seating? What's that concept called again? LF-X?

LexFather

Guys, this is what I have heard from good sources.
No cute ute is coming, Lexus thinks that market is not profitable or useful to the brand.
The RX will REMAIN with 2 rows of seats. Lexus did not like the proposed designs of 3 row RXs. Nor did they find the 3rd seat useful except in name only "I have a 3rd row".
The GS based HPX is 95% a go. This will be a X5/Cayenne/FX fighter.
The GX will get a redesign for 2009.

So not sure if all the SUVs will be sold everwhere but you will have
RX
RXh
GX
LX
HPX (not sure what it will be called)

Gojirra99

I agree, at least not in N.America.
About time, but IIRC, the HPX concept has 3 row of seats right ?

LexFather

In Europe a cute ute might work, smaller and it will need a diesal. The RDX would die in Europe, I-4 with awful fuel economy and emmisions due to turbos.THe X3 has a wider range of engines and the BMW cache.

HPX I do believe had 3 rows. I don't expect the SUV to look anything like it thought, that concept is 4-5 years old.

TRDFantasy

I'm expecting a Lexus-exclusive RWD crossover/wagon to be one model, and the next-gen RX to be the other model. The next-gen RX is supposed to move further upmarket, and be less related to Toyota products just as it is rumoured with the next-gen ES.

encore888

I'm a bit worried that the HPX (VX or JX) will canniballize RX sales and that a 4-SUV lineup would be too big for Lexus. That's why I warmed up to the idea of a stretched RX...RX 350 and RX 350 L...but that might not work as well. Or will they cancel the GX (oh no!) and replace it with the HPX?

TRDFantasy

A production HPX could be made very sporty to differentiate it from the rest of the SUVs, but I agree that would still be too many SUVs. The GX might get cancelled or replaced, we will see. Lexus for the most part has had very good model differentiation compared to other brands.

MR_F1

^+ 1

they have the right amount of SUVs and it would be a shame to see the GX cancelled.

LexFather

Well lets see the competition
Benz has ML, GL, G-wagon and the MLK is coming
BMW has X3 X5 and X6 crossover is coming
Audi has Q7 and Q5/3 are rumored to be coming
Infiniti has more SUVs than cars in 2008! EX, FX and QX

So Lexus could get away with 4 SUVs...

Trexus

I hope Lexus doesn't cancel the GX. Lexus has only canceled one model the SC 300 but created the GS 400 which became the GS 430 which hopefully becomes the GS 460...