Job Design, a Japan tuning firm specializing in Lexus & Toyota modifications, has released a new body kit for the Lexus LS, consisting of front wheel vents, a super-dropped suspension and new front & rear bumpers:

I think it’s only natural, in light of the LS’ rather somber and elegant design, that body kit manufacturers would feel the need to gussy it up, but surely there’s a better option than making it look like a mix between VIP & Buick.

[Via: Kultivate’s Weblog]

There’s all sorts of interesting information in this BBC article about Sainsbury’s chief executive Justin King trading in his Maserati Quattroporte for a Lexus LS 600hL, particularly when it comes to the state of Lexus in the UK:

Lexus has gone from strength to strength with its hybrid-powered luxury.

In the current atmosphere, its new environmental credentials have done what its reputation for reliability and refinement had failed to do for years, namely give the marque emotional appeal.

In recent months, the Japanese carmaker has won over a string of high level executive - including Mr King’s main rival, Tesco chief Sir Terry Leahy - as well as many celebrities, including Sir Paul McCartney and his daughter Stella.

Demand for hybrid Lexus models created a six-month waiting list for the 600h before its launch in October last year, a situation previously unheard of for Lexus, which even after two decades of trying has failed to sell much more than 50,000 cars per year in Europe.

Last year, almost a third of its sales in Europe were hybrids.

“Hybrid is Lexus brand defining technology,” a company official says. “Only Lexus has hybrid, and we have three while others have yet to launch one.”

Lexus is certainly winning over the right sort of customer in Britain, which is sure to do more for the brand than police force fleet sales.

Perhaps as a way to counterbalance his incredibly glowing editorial of the Lexus LS 460 last year, Arthur St. Antoine took some time in this month’s Motor Trend to badmouth the LS 600hL:

For many buyers, a hybrid car is nothing more than the four-wheeled equivalent of a yellow LiveStrong wristband-a conspicuous, self-satisfying, effort-free membership card into the “I Care” club.

…how can you justify paying almost 50 percent more-some $33,000-for the hybrid LS when it nets you only a 15-percent gain in output (438 gas/electric horsepower for the 600hL versus 380 horses for the 460L) and almost no improvement in fuel efficiency (20/22 city/highway mpg for the hybrid versus 16/24 mpg for the 460L)?

You can’t. In a revealing lux-sedan comparison last December, the LS 600hL finished fourth out of four, the test drivers (I was one) docking points for its compromised trunk (much of the space is eaten up by hybrid bits), a hugely complex powerplant that overheated when we charged up our mountain loop, and real-world fuel economy barely 15-percent better than the average posted by the rivals from Jaguar, Mercedes-Benz, and Maserati-each of which happily romped all day.

The limitations of the LS 600hL are well-documented, but using that fairly uneven super-sedan comparison as the basis of proof is rather suspect. Also, and I find it surprising that it wasn’t mentioned, the LS 600hL has several unique features (particularly the all-wheel drive) that cut into the $33,000 price difference versus the LS 460. This isn’t just a case of pointless hybrid markup, no matter how often it’s repeated.

***

As a sidenote, the buying public sure isn’t phased by the negativity — Lexus was only expecting to sell 2,000 LS 600hL’s in 2008, and the car is currently moving 1,000 units a month.

The Lane Keep Assist feature, which effectively locks you into a highway lane, may only available on the European & Asian Lexus LS, but it’s incredibly effective, at least in the context of this video:

I’m of two minds with this feature. You can never discount added safety, but the movement towards automated driving makes me nervous. At least it doesn’t work if you remove your hands from the steering wheel.

The minute I saw that Jalopnik Jonny Lieberman had gotten his mitts on an LS 600hL for a week, I knew we were in for a treat, and I was not disappointed in the least:

Why am I laughing like such an idiot? Seriously, my cheeks hurt from grinning. Well, the reason why is that I’ve died and gone to Heaven, if only for five minutes or so. I’ve had pure automotive moments before. A Porsche Boxster on Decker Canyon. A Miata at 6:00 am Sunday morning on Angeles Crest. A Mustang in the desert. A Se7en on the Dragon. This [The Lexus LS 600hL], screaming along with one of my favorite bands with both feet off the pedals suspended in perfect leather-soaked isolation, ranks right up there. What? Why? Because I was doing exactly exactly what the car has been designed to do. Man in harmony with machine, all 5,219 porky, absurd pounds of it.

Highly enjoyable, it’s nice to read a review that captures just how impressive this car is, the feeling it brings. It’s even possible there won’t be any complaints about the trunk space:

Already looking forward to part two.

One thing that I failed to notice when posting up the Lexus LS 600h’s sales figures is just how far the total was over the projected sales. By selling 6,093 units by October, the LS 600h has exceeded Lexus’ yearly sales estimate of 2,000 by over 300%.

These numbers are nothing short of exceptional, especially considering the heat the car has received from the automotive press.

In my mind, this practically guarantees that improvements will be made in regards to the vehicle’s commonly addressed issues, with its small trunk space and average gas mileage. The demand out there surely exists, and if people are buying the car despite the slights against it, what kind of numbers would an improved model bring in?

[Via: Autoblog]

Lexus LS 600h sales are off to an exceptionally strong start, selling 6,093 units worldwide as of October 2007.

Japan is especially enamored, scooping up 4,533 of the total, though this is likely due to its earlier release. Both North American and European sales are decent, with 818 and 569 sales respectively.

These numbers have to be encouraging to Lexus as they work at establishing the brand in Japan and Europe. If anything, the North American sales seem low, but this can be accounted by the fact that only the LS 600hL is available.

[Source: Toyota via Autoblog Green]

Driving.ca took a unique turn with their review of the Lexus LS 600hL, putting Jimmy Pattison, the fourth richest man in Canada, behind the wheel:

Once the colourful self-made billionaire figured out how to operate the keyless ignition and push-button emergency brake on the 2008 Lexus LS600h L — and put his seat belt on “old school” style, with the shoulder belt behind him — he instinctively piloted the massive executive sedan for a highway off-ramp and a place to wind out the new Lexus flagship.

Within just seconds of turning onto the highway, Pattison had the hybrid luxury car sniffing 160 km/h on an empty section of the TransCanada Highway. With his well-manicured hands firmly gripping the wood and leather-trimmed wheel, he effortlessly and confidently settled into taking the Lexus through its paces.

“Boy, this is some car,” the natural-born salesman commented a number of times during the highway run, typically when he’d mat it.

“For the size of this car, it really goes.”

He was even more impressed by the groundbreaking LS600h when reminded it is a hybrid.

“Boy, that’s something.”

The idea of actually incorporating a potential customer into the review is a novel one, too bad there’s a catch — Pattison earns part of his billions by owning car dealerships, including a Lexus branch in Vancouver, BC.

The Wall Street Journal’s review of the Lexus LS 600hL isn’t so much a condemnation of the car, but rather the hybrid technology that spawned it:

The biggest con running in the auto industry right now is the notion that hybrids represent some sort of quantum leap in green transportation. Not only is this patently untrue — hybrid technology is actually decades old — but it shamelessly plays to the hypocrisy of our society.

Cost-benefit analysis clearly doesn’t figure into the [LS 600hL’s] allure. We did the math: The hybrid version will save its owner enough on gas to break even after only 2.1 million miles. Keeping with Toyota’s brand strategy for its Lexus division hybrids, the LS 600h L deploys its technology as a badge of exclusivity rather than environmentalism, with the sort of “Why? Because we can!” bravado that’s endemic among luxury-car brands.

I can understand criticism of the trunk space, and the so-so gas mileage is certainly a point for debate, but using the LS 600hL as a conduit for criticism of an entire industry is something else entirely.

Another thing, why is it that the LS 600hL has to compare against the LS 460, rather than against its competitors? Does every Mercedes S600 review focus on the $60,000 (!!!) price difference between it and the S550? I almost think that Lexus would have gotten a more positive response if they had released a V12 LS, rather than using a V8/hybrid combo that puts out comparable numbers.

Motor Trend assembled some super saloons in their latest ultra-luxury sedan comparison test, pitting the Lexus LS 600hL against the Jaguar Super V8, Mercedes S550 & Maserati Quattroporte Sport. The LS 600hL didn’t have a great showing, at least in the driving department:

The all-wheel-drive Lexus exhibited pigheaded understeer in most corners, often attended by the beep-beep nagging of the stability nanny. Switching it off kills the beeps, but never allows one scintilla of chassis slip angle. And despite being fitted with $3000 worth of active anti-roll bars, the LS 600hL seemed to roll as much or more than the other cars here, even when set to “sport” mode (it’s borderline nautical in “comfort”). Charging hard up the hill depleted the battery quickly (actually, pressing the gas pedal on any type of road kills the battery quickly), and horsing the CVT through its eight virtual gear ratios with liberal doses of carpet-crushing throttle provoked an unseemly “hybrid system overheat” warning. We didn’t find the hybrid gear equal to sacrificing a golf-bag’s worth of trunk space for and, after this session, all editors were ready to red-pencil the 600 badge down to a 500.

I’m of two minds with the review and its emphasis on driving performance, as I see it as a secondary consideration in this class. That’s hardly a justification for its fourth place finish, though.