The Active Height Control hydraulic suspension, which offers four ground clearance settings starting with Low, for passenger entry and exit, then lifting to Normal, Hi1, and Hi2 for off-roading. Lexus says the system is faster-acting than before.

As before, the LX 600 uses Lexus' Active Height Control (AHC) suspension system, which uses hydraulics for ride height adjustment. There are four ride height settings—Low (for passenger access), Normal, High 1, and High 2.

While ride height is still adjusted through the use of shock absorbers, gas and hydraulic springs and metal springs, a spring rate switching device – which was previously only used for the front wheels – is now used for the rear wheels as well, reducing the time needed to adjust ride height. There are three settings for vehicle height while the vehicle is in motion (Normal, Hi1 and Hi2) and a Low setting for passenger ingress and egress.

As you can probably tell by now, I generally liked the new LX 600. I won’t go as far as to say I fell in love with it, but it’s a good luxury SUV and far better than the LX 570 it replaces. At the same time, it’s hard to imagine how many buyers out there actually want to spend six figures on a luxury off-roader. And for those who do have the money, will they really want an LX?

The people I talked to at Lexus didn’t appear to be under any delusions about the LX 600 having mass-market appeal. They also pointed out that it’s an SUV that will be sold all over the world, meaning U.S. sales aren’t their only priority. Which is good because if I’m thinking about markets where the LX 600 makes the most sense, they’re not the U.S.

Unsurprisingly, they also named the Land Rover Range Rover as the SUV they’re most focused on stealing sales from. After that, it’s the Infiniti QX80 and the Mercedes-Benz GLS. Of the three, the QX80 buyer seems like the easiest conquest. Styling aside, it lines up the best with the LX on paper, and I don’t remember the Infiniti’s seats being nearly as comfortable. I could also see disaffected Range Rover buyers jumping ship for something that should be much more reliable. GLS buyers, on the other hand, seem like they’ll be much harder to get.

Interestingly, one of the people I spoke to said they aren’t particularly focused on the Mercedes-Benz G 550. Apparently, the $50,000-ish difference in base price puts G-Wagen buyers out of Lexus’s target demographic.

“But wait,” you might be thinking. “What about the Ultra-Luxury trim? $126,000 is pretty close to the G-Wagen’s base price. Shouldn’t that make it a tempting alternative?”

In theory, yes. But I also think the Lexus employee had a point. Mostly because the LX 600 Ultra-Luxury isn’t simply the fanciest version you can buy. It’s actually a four-seater aimed at buyers with a chauffeur. The setup is similar to the reclining back seats found in the LS 500 that we tested recently, although in the LX, you get a footrest that folds down from the front passenger seat for even more luxury. While plenty nice at lower price points, I’m also not sure the interior materials will be nice enough to draw in the kind of buyer who can afford a driver. At least in the U.S.

According to the numbers Lexus gave me, I’m probably not the only one who thought the LX 600 Ultra-Luxury will struggle to sell here. It currently expects about 90 percent of its sales to come from the Premium, F Sport and Luxury trims, leaving only a small number of buyers interested in the fully loaded four-seater.

The other thing that’s interesting about that breakdown is how few people Lexus thinks will actually buy the base model. That’s the one that’s supposed to attract Toyota Land Cruiser orphans. Even if you assume the base model will take the vast majority of that remaining 10 percent, based on recent sales numbers, that could mean Toyota’s leaving thousands of Land Cruiser buyers on the table every year with its decision to stop selling it here. What I suspect, though, is that Land Cruiser buyers willing to make the jump to Lexus will probably be interested in one of the higher trims. After all, if you can reasonably afford to spend $87,000 on a luxury SUV, what’s another $10,000 or $15,000?