Lexus Offers Better Look at All-New UX Ahead of Geneva
CARS.COM — New images of Lexus’ latest SUV suggest a few design tweaks are afoot at Toyota’s luxury division. Lexus unveiled the first full image today of its all-new UX, a small SUV set to debut March 6 at the 2018 Geneva International Motor Show.
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The UX still wears Lexus’ usual menacing expression, spindle grille and all. But it moves ostensible LED running lights above the main headlights; they’re below the lights on other Lexus models. A trio of inner bezels within each light mimics those on the LC coupe, while aggressive outer bumper openings have more lights at their base. The model displayed has cladding to the hilt; it’s on the fenders, below the bumpers and on the side sills. Oh, and those tailfins we saw in Lexus’ teaser image released last week? They are, indeed, just taillight nubs.
In an 18-second video released alongside the image, a swift pan of the interior shows the gauges flanked, like the neck bolts on Frankenstein’s monster, by control knobs from the LS sedan and LC coupe. The climate controls employ toggle switches similar to those in the LC, while a wide, tabletlike center display perches high on the dash similar to that of the RX SUV.
Automotive News expects the UX to share its platform with the Toyota C-HR, a global subcompact SUV — though arguably just a glorified hatchback stateside, as the U.S. model lacks the all-wheel drive offered overseas. Lexus bills its new SUV as an “urban compact crossover,” but it’s hardly the brand’s first play at city dwellers: Four years ago, Lexus billed the then-new NX as a “luxury compact crossover” aimed at “young, urban drivers.”
Still, if the UX follows dimensionally with its concept forebear, it could measure nearly 10 inches shorter than the NX. Expect it to compete with upscale subcompact SUVs like the Audi Q3, BMW X1 and Mercedes-Benz GLA-Class.
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