Lexus LF-Ch Concept - Auto Shows
Lexus previews a hybrid 1-series competitor.
BY STEVE SILER AND JON YANCA, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHIAS KNÖDLER
September 2009
Being relatively new to Europe, the Lexus brand has a lot to prove to the continent’s notoriously demanding buyers, many of whom prioritize prudence over pretense. It’s the reason hot compacts are so popular over there—they’re fun, yes, but they’re also extremely practical.
And so Lexus has chosen the 2009 Frankfurt auto show to preview its smallest car ever, the LF-Ch concept. Previously known only as the “premium compact concept,” Lexus claims that the LF-Ch will “raise the bar in the premium compact segment” on account of its “compelling mix of technical innovation and groundbreaking design in regards to super-premium compactness and compact premiumness.” OK, so the last nine words of that final quote are ours, but the stuff that can be attributed to Lexus obviously refers to a hybrid powertrain for this little hatchback.
The exact setup has yet to be detailed, but Lexus says the LF-Ch is powered by the latest generation of Lexus Hybrid Drive, so we’d expect to see the same 147-hp, 2.4-liter Atkinson-cycle engine, nickel-metal hydride battery pack, and electric motor as found in the recently released HS250h sedan. That hybrid system is good for a total system output of 187 hp in the HS. In the LF-Ch concept, the driver is able to select between four driving modes including normal, eco, EV, and even a Sport mode that alters throttle response. You know, because hybrid owners are so enthusiastic about their driving.
Design-wise, this little Lexus breaks no ground that BMW hasn’t already broken with its popular 1-series hatchback. No bad thing, we suppose, as we like the 1-series in the coupe/convertible body styles we get here in the U.S. as well as the three- and five-door variants that are sold elsewhere. Penned at Toyota’s North American-based design center in California, the LF-Ch concept’s blackened B-pillar was designed, Lexus says, to give the illusion of a coupe profile, and the button that opens the rear door is hidden in the chrome molding. Lexus says this concept will “allow the brand to study the needs of young urbanites and consumer values in a compact luxury vehicle,” and the company will gauge consumer reaction to determine the LF-Ch’s production future.
The cabin is a four-place affair, elegantly accented by yards of leather and real metal trim. Lexus’s Remote Touch infotainment controller runs the display that pops-up from the dash, just to the right of two deep-set gauges surrounded in metal. A thick-rimmed steering wheel sits in front of paddle shifters. Blue ambient lighting adds a bit of lushness, and the front-seat headrests have built-in docks for rear passengers’ iPhones. Those without iPhones will just have to play traditional road trip games like license-plate bingo, we guess.
Being a hatchback, the Lexus LF-Ch concept is inarguably Euro-centric, and as such, we doubt that Lexus will bring us the final version of the car, even though it was designed in the U.S. This would make it the first Lexus model sold in Europe not to be sold in the United States, which would be a bummer, since we rather like how the concept looks, at least in its current form. In production form, one can expect the swoopy nose, humongous wheels, and chopped greenhouse to take on more conventional proportions. Regardless, it promises to be a fetching little guy, and we hope Lexus shows it in the States as well.
Lexus previews a hybrid 1-series competitor.
BY STEVE SILER AND JON YANCA, PHOTOGRAPHY BY MATTHIAS KNÖDLER
September 2009
Being relatively new to Europe, the Lexus brand has a lot to prove to the continent’s notoriously demanding buyers, many of whom prioritize prudence over pretense. It’s the reason hot compacts are so popular over there—they’re fun, yes, but they’re also extremely practical.
And so Lexus has chosen the 2009 Frankfurt auto show to preview its smallest car ever, the LF-Ch concept. Previously known only as the “premium compact concept,” Lexus claims that the LF-Ch will “raise the bar in the premium compact segment” on account of its “compelling mix of technical innovation and groundbreaking design in regards to super-premium compactness and compact premiumness.” OK, so the last nine words of that final quote are ours, but the stuff that can be attributed to Lexus obviously refers to a hybrid powertrain for this little hatchback.
The exact setup has yet to be detailed, but Lexus says the LF-Ch is powered by the latest generation of Lexus Hybrid Drive, so we’d expect to see the same 147-hp, 2.4-liter Atkinson-cycle engine, nickel-metal hydride battery pack, and electric motor as found in the recently released HS250h sedan. That hybrid system is good for a total system output of 187 hp in the HS. In the LF-Ch concept, the driver is able to select between four driving modes including normal, eco, EV, and even a Sport mode that alters throttle response. You know, because hybrid owners are so enthusiastic about their driving.
Design-wise, this little Lexus breaks no ground that BMW hasn’t already broken with its popular 1-series hatchback. No bad thing, we suppose, as we like the 1-series in the coupe/convertible body styles we get here in the U.S. as well as the three- and five-door variants that are sold elsewhere. Penned at Toyota’s North American-based design center in California, the LF-Ch concept’s blackened B-pillar was designed, Lexus says, to give the illusion of a coupe profile, and the button that opens the rear door is hidden in the chrome molding. Lexus says this concept will “allow the brand to study the needs of young urbanites and consumer values in a compact luxury vehicle,” and the company will gauge consumer reaction to determine the LF-Ch’s production future.
The cabin is a four-place affair, elegantly accented by yards of leather and real metal trim. Lexus’s Remote Touch infotainment controller runs the display that pops-up from the dash, just to the right of two deep-set gauges surrounded in metal. A thick-rimmed steering wheel sits in front of paddle shifters. Blue ambient lighting adds a bit of lushness, and the front-seat headrests have built-in docks for rear passengers’ iPhones. Those without iPhones will just have to play traditional road trip games like license-plate bingo, we guess.
Being a hatchback, the Lexus LF-Ch concept is inarguably Euro-centric, and as such, we doubt that Lexus will bring us the final version of the car, even though it was designed in the U.S. This would make it the first Lexus model sold in Europe not to be sold in the United States, which would be a bummer, since we rather like how the concept looks, at least in its current form. In production form, one can expect the swoopy nose, humongous wheels, and chopped greenhouse to take on more conventional proportions. Regardless, it promises to be a fetching little guy, and we hope Lexus shows it in the States as well.
