LEXUS TO MAKE COMPACT SUV?

After initially denying interest, Toyota is back up on the block and contemplating as whether or not they will create a compact SUV that will compete with BMW X3, Audi Q5, and the Acura RDX. Originally, executives felt a little Lexus would overlap the Lexus brand with Toyota – a fear that, apparently, has gone away.

Toyota Motor Sale U.S.A. president Jim Lentz told Automotive News that a small Lexus SUV could be response to the “urbanization” of young buyers. The company’s advanced product strategy planning group is currently studying the demographic and is finding people who are sick of suburbia, yet want to drive an SUV. Lentz said, “A small luxury SUV might be the right product for that environment.”

However, he did say that a $30,000 SUV might not work because, at that price, luxury features would have to be sacrificed. And, going smaller than the RX 350 would mean an SUV on the RAV4 platform.

Source: AB.nl