Lexus UX Concept Preview
CARS.COM — Designed in France, the Lexus UX Concept takes the brand’s current design ethos to even more extreme ends in what the brand calls its vision of a future compact SUV. (Wait, didn’t the NX and RX already do this?)
Everything gets bolder: The headlights are more fanglike, the inlets below them are deeper and the fenders are now cladded. The wheels and tires look like something off the giant truck in “Mad Max: Fury Road.” Some of this could make it to production sooner than you think: Lexus’ sleek LC coupe looks like a concept car, but it’s production-ready.
Related: 2016 Paris Motor Show
Does the UX chart a new design direction for Lexus? Not particularly. It’s more of an evolution, however extreme, of the brand’s current theme. The rear has some interesting lighting and a lot of overlapping surfaces, but the whole shape could indicate what we’ll see on the next-generation NX.
Inside, the four-seat cabin is purely conceptual. In profile, the front chairs evoke a praying mantis. Lexus says its Kinetic Seat Concept — another Paris Motor Show debut — inspired the webbed inserts, but these chairs look a lot less comfortable than the concept seat. The steering wheel would be at home in a modern-art exhibit and the two rear seats have a wraparound lounge shape. Lexus says it’s all an effort to give an “inside-out” approach that blends the exterior and interior. You be the judge. Check out the gallery below.
