Tokyo Motor Show - Lexus

What’s the star of the stand?

A Flagship Sedan Concept Car called the LS-Sh (or all-new LS for short).

We’re told that this design study will barely change before it’s turned into a production car, due to be unveiled at the Detroit Motor Show in January.

Likely to cost from around £50,000, the new LS goes on sale next year and, like its rivals the Audi A8, BMW 7 Series and Mercedes S-Class, will be available in standard- and long-wheelbase versions.

This is a first for the range-topping Lexus, which the company promises takes another step forward in its already excellent build quality.

Lexus might be developing diesel engines for its smaller brother, the IS, but they won’t appear in the LS. However, it will get petrol-electric hybrid power, like the RX400h 4x4 and, from next year, the GS450h. In the LS a V8 petrol engine will be backed up by a battery-powered electric motor.

Does it look more exciting ‘in the metal’?
It’s certainly a very inoffensive look, but there are some nice little touches like the hidden exhaust pipes. Hopefully they won’t all be stripped from the production version of the car.

Anything else on show?
The GS450h which lends its hybrid powerplant to the LS. At the other end of the scale, Lexus also announced that its future supercar, based closely on the LF-A concept, will be powered by a V10 engine.

It sounds like a Formula 1 engine at the moment, but it’s likely to be toned down a little bit before you can buy it in the next few years.

We’d love to have brought you a sound clip of the engine from when Lexus started it up for our colleagues earlier this week, but the company didn’t seem to want it on record just yet.