Does the new Lexus LBX show that premium isn’t about size?
The new Lexus LBX hybrid is a bit of a possible game-changer. It is defined as a luxury subcompact crossover, but that simplifies things. How does this car make people feel good about what they are getting, especially when there are so many options all around its price range, both above and below?
It does it by working on a platform that allows such. The car uses a 1.5 liter three-cylinder engine, the platform of which has historically been a bit of a shaker. Technology has advanced of course, and Lexus has always been a bit ahead of the curve in defining markets that no one knew existed. The smooth V8s that kind of killed off the American makers. The luxury SUV/crossover as a thing? Will this be any different?
Let us look first at the drive system, which is a self-charging (no plug ports) hybrid. Lexus vehicles have always been smooth, often defining smoothness for the class they are in (the V8s) or the ones they create (the luxury crossover/SUV). Adding hybrid just makes things smoother. However, here they needed to mate the smoothness of the electric motor with the smaller-than-before gasoline engine.
Other cars have been able to put this combination together with the low point being the transition from electric to fuel, particularly when the electric needs to come in, to bring the battery level up, and for which the engine revs tend to be a little high. This has been taken as pretty forgivable with other small hybrids to some point, because the drivers appreciated the other attributes of fuel efficiency and electric smoothness, and the ability to avoid badly-devised traffic schemes.
In the LBX, I kind of didn’t notice. Which means it didn’t jar me. Now, if you assume that the higher revs that come in with other hybrid cars are meant to charge the battery quickly, that doesn’t seem to be the priority for Lexus. Which makes complete sense. Especially with the more malleable systems of today.
What Lexus is trying to do with this latest three-letter vehicle is a bit what they wanted to do, and did, with the other one. Which was the Lexus LFA. Which proved they could create a supercar-level car with Lexus DNA, and supercar owners know this reliability. Which they did that time. Did they do it here?
On the inside, the LBX feels more driver-centric than the next-size-up UX which is kind of within striking distance . Which means that if you are looking at these cars, you will be choosing based on what works for you, what you place the premium of premium on. Do you need to bring more
stuff around, or do you want keep your little luxury bubble to yourself most of the time?
The Lexus LBX is one of the three finalists for the Urban Car Award of the World Car Awards. The competition is all electric, yet the LBX isn’t. So, in a world where full electrification may not yet be an answer for a lot of people, this may well be the strongest contender.
Chief Engineer Kunihiko Endo said that what they wanted to do was to “challenge the conventional concept of a luxury car.” All well and good, and the bones of the car are solid.
Chief Lexus track takumi Akio Toyoda, who also happens to be Chairman of the Board Of Directors, says it is his current drive of choice. So, maybe those nice rounded haunches, most visible on the muted silver-grey model, tell you that this car can deliver more than just luxury.
The Lexus LBX starts at P2,968,000.
