Get Ready for the All-New Lexus LC 500
When the Lexus LF-LC Concept debuted at the 2012 North American International Auto Show, the press, loyal customers, and enthusiasts wondered if the concept’s arresting styling and dramatic proportions could ever evolve into a production 2+2 coupe. Today, four years after the debut of the breakthrough concept that inspired it, Lexus has revealed the all-new LC 500 luxury coupe. This provocative, athletic flagship coupe makes the strongest statement yet about the brand’s future product direction.
Akio Toyoda has been at the center of the Lexus global expansion, personally driving a heightened level of collaboration between design, engineering, and marketing teams to help build a luxury brand better suited to meet the needs of the next generation of consumers.
“The LC 500 has been an important product for Lexus and me personally,” said Akio Toyoda, Chief Branding Officer and Master Driver for Lexus. “A few years ago, we decided to guide the future of the brand with products that had more passion and distinction in the luxury market. This flagship luxury coupe’s proportions, stunning design and performance make a strong statement about our brands’ emotional direction, and will grow the Lexus luxury appeal globally.”
Lexus’s new LC 500 coupe is Toyoda-san’s own personal pet project, designed to propel Toyota’s luxury arm back to the top of the pecking order.
The LC 500 is intended to go after BMW’s 6 Series and Merc’s S-Class Coupe, and has already been confirmed for a start in Australia by Lexus Oz head Peter McGregor, who calls the LC 500 “a lighthouse model for our expanding range”. No specs or prices have been confirmed, but expect to see it towards the end of 2016.
The coupe will pack 5.0 liters of quad-cam V8 engine under its alloy hood, sending 351kW and 530Nm to the rear wheels via a world-first 10-speed auto. Lexus says it’ll knock over 0-100km/h in less than 4.5 seconds, too. You will already know the 2UR-GSE V8 from such performance models as the RC F and GS F.
Suspension meanwhile is multi-link all ’round, with forged alloy control arms to reduce unsprung mass. Front brakes are rather large, too, with six-piston forged calipers bringing a halt to proceedings.
The LC 500 also marks the debut of Lexus’s new Global Architecture Luxury (GA-L) rear-wheel drive platform, which is said to be the most torsionally rigid ever produced by the company – and stiffer even than the carbon fiber chassis underneath the LFA supercar.
Lexus will roll the rear-drive GA-L platform out across several new models going forward, including the new Lexus LS limo – and possibly even a successor to the Toyota Supra.
Stop by your Highland Park Lexus dealer for a closer look at the new LC 500 and other luxury models today.
