Audi has the A3. Mercedes has the B-class. BMW has the 1-series. And now Lexus is jumping on the small car bandwagon. According to Redbook (the Aussie website, not the thirty-something fashion mag), Toyota's upmarket car brand is dumping plans to build a RAV-4-based SUV in favor of crafting the Lexus of small cars. An unnamed, overly-grammatical Lexus executive claimed "the booming small passenger market in Europe has required us to rethink the situation in terms of the sub-RX entry-level SUV. In response, we have decided to shift from SUV to passenger car, under the project name of C-Premium." The new baby Lexus will be offered in both sedan and hatchback versions. It should arrive just in time to help Lexus meet stricter CO2 and fuel economy standards. Let's just hope the "C" in "C-Premium" doesn't mean "Corolla."
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Maybe the “C” in “C-Premium” stands for “Cimarron?”
I did once see a Lexus badged Scion Tc…
I can’t wait to see how they’re going to try and shove Americans into the back of a car smaller than the IS.
Lexus Yaris!
If it’s FWD, it’s a glorified Corolla. If it’s RWD/AWD, then maybe worth a look.
At least they dumped the idea of yet another SUV. One less Soft Utility Vehicle blocking my view is a good thing.
When has Lexus done anything but follow?
crc: Follow, improve, and rake in cash. Not a bad business model. It costs a lot to lead.
RWD or AWD, a stick shift, and a price point below the IS will surely get this vehicle on my short list! Let’s hope it’s more than just a tarted up Matrix (the AWD version will be back next year).
If they make it FWD, it will EASILY become Toyota’s biggest mistake EVER. It would be a bigger blunder than the Cimmaron (good call KixStart)
Don’t like it. BMW can easily sell the 1-series through performance/handling credibility (even though a similarly-priced Impreza/Mazda3/Lancer/EVO will easily beat it).
Lexus is a luxobarge badge, more Buick than BMW. Perhaps after they really establish their performance line, this could be a smart down-market move, but right now, this would just be brand confusion.
I love my small hatchback (GTI), but I hate FWD, and I hate the nagging feeling that my car is fragile and my electrical gremlin number is about to come up. I won’t buy another car on the “all cars are good so you can’t really buy anything too unreliable these days” principle. The constant worry is not worth it, even though my car has been trouble-free.
So, that said, if Toyota wants to build me a bulletproof hatchback with RWD or AWD and price it under the IS, i.e. $25000 to start, i’ll take it.
As for handling, my GTI has capabilities far beyond what is reasonable on public roads. Yes, even deserted backroads where there’s no one to kill but myself.
I actually think that it’s a good move-dumping a gas-hog for something a bit more sensible in these times. Price and marketing/execution remain.
NICKNICK: isn’t that called the WRX?
Given Toy Yoda’s stake in Fuji Heavy, I suspect that the next small Lexus may have Scooby underpinnings and AWD. Shades of the 9-2x?
Ryan Knuckles :
October 31st, 2007 at 10:54 am
crc: Follow, improve, and rake in cash. Not a bad business model. It costs a lot to lead.
That’s one of the reasons why I have little respect for them.
crc:
You don’t need to respect them, but they are raking in the cash just fine.
RWD or AWD and Lexus might have a shot at building bridges with lightcore piston heads.
FWD and Lexus will have gone beyond jump the shark (IS-F: what a sin, not in a good way), it will be Jump on the shark. And we all knows what happens next…bloody…
It is not too late to repent the brand’s Buick reputation if they can wake up, but their too drunk on the money of an ignorant buying public at the moment.
All this anti-FWD stuff is silly. The A3 works for Audi. The ES and RX work for Lexus (who wouldn’t exist without those two, I bet).
If it’s a dumb idea it’s not because of which wheels are being driven… that only matters for a company that makes RWD a huge part of their marketing like BMW. Never mind that their sportiest car is probably the FWD Mini.
No, it’s dumb because Lexus is becoming synonymous with luxury and should take advantage of that. It’s already common for people to call premium products “the Lexus of (insert industry here).” They caught up with Mercedes for luxury cache and as Mercedes goes downmarket, Lexus should only go up!
True carlisimo, but Lexus has gotta do something bold if they are going to reach out to a new audience. But, even with RWD, they, in their inferior Toyota ways, will figure out a way to turn it into a mini-Camry.
Personally, I don’t think any engineers exist within Toyota that know anything about what FUNDAMENTALLY makes a sporty car just that…and that’s why they are a huge flop in the EU.
It will probably be something like the Acura Civics we get in Canada. It’s just like a Civic, but with a more upscale interior and a bigger engine.
Jason, I agree that they don’t understand sportiness. They certainly used to, even after a lot of their products went FWD, but no longer.
Maybe you’re right, and they should go smaller. If that’s the case they should play to their strengths and build a mini ES… I have to believe there are a lot of drivers out there who want a ‘nice’ car and don’t need sporty.
What they need to do is release a nice, well styled RWD GT coupe. Stick in a nice 3.0L I6 with a coupla hair dryers, and mate it up to a nice little six speed DIY or Semi Auto (buyer’s choice) cog swapper. Then badge it as a Toyota and call it the Supra. Then I’d buy it, as long as it came in under the 55k mark.
But hey, what do I know?
It sort of reminds of those Canadian “Acura Civics”. Can’t imagine why anyone would buy one.
Or way back when Infiniti offered the FWD 4-cylinder G20. The first G20s were decent, but they didn’t sell well.
I’m not sure what Lexus is thinking.
Brian E :
October 31st, 2007 at 12:14 pm
“NICKNICK: isn’t that called the WRX?”
(d’oh!) Yes it is. I’ll stop whining now.
Johnster said:
“Or way back when Infiniti offered the FWD 4-cylinder G20. The first G20s were decent, but they didn’t sell well.”
Hey! I used to own a G20. I know, I know, they were small, underpowered, faux-luxury mobiles…and people had a reason to question their existence. The thing is – I live in a city, and my daily commute is not optimized for a) open road driving nor b) gas mileage. So at the time, I was looking for a smallish sedan with nice options and best of all – an efficient engine. The G20 came standard with leather, sunroof, 4 airbags, auto-climate control, blah, blah, blah. I got 27 or so MPG (in town) with that thing – it was a nice little car for those who could appreciate it.
The problem with the second-gen G20 was that the venerable SR20 engine still only made 145hp, which was woefully underpowered for a 3000lb “sports” sedan. Take it from me, I’m apparently one of very few adult male Americans that thought that the G20 was “fast” enough – although the handling was impeccable, the acceleration was quite slow (9.5 sec 0-60 if I recall correctly) for most people’s taste.
Also, thousands of ignorant folks just assumed that since it was similar in size that the G20 = Sentra. It actually was just a rebadged Nissan Primera, a well thought-of sedan in Japan and Europe.
Nissan would have been better off bringing it to the US as a Nissan model and pricing it for around $10k cheaper without all the faux-luxury leanings. But that would have crowded out the Altima and Sentra – and they wanted Infiniti to have a A4 and C-class fighter. Obviously Infiniti decided to back out of the compact sedan market and got it right with the G35. I still think an improved engine offering in the G20 (G25 anyone?) would have made it a competent offering.
People who haven’t driven them write them off as wannabe “luxury” Sentras – but they had some nice qualities about them. They were also bulletproof with reliability.
The thing is, I’m also one of very few Americans that likes the idea of a compact-luxury niche. I loved the first-gen IS300 as well. Unfortunately, most Americans equate luxury with 1) excessive power and 2) vehicle size. So a 4-cylinder “luxury” car is somewhat of a joke to most people. Audi and Mercedes Benz have done it for years (note their ubiquity today for folks wanting a status symbol) but I guess they have a brand cachet about them that Infiniti either doesn’t have, or at least didn’t have at the time.
That said, if a Lexus compact looks anything like the Corolla, I don’t think it’ll go over too well. There’s nothing luxurious or sporty about the proportions of that jelly-bean.
Has Lexus announced if the car will hit the US market? Honda only sells the Acura EL (previous gen) and now, the CSX in Canada, while Toyota only sells the 5-door Yaris in Canada as well. It may very well be a “It’s not for you!” product wrt the US market.
Lexus (Toyota) has a great opportunity to repair its reputation among sporting drivers. I hope they can deliver something comparable to what the company offered in its I-6 RWD glory days.
If they engineer it to the kudos of European drivers, who have deadpanned the brand so far, I think they will have an overall winner on their hands. RWD or FWD drive.