The Infiniti nor Acura marques have yet to be introduced to the home islands, and Infiniti is now just being rolled out in Europe.

Inside my mind(where weird things happen more often than they should, mind you) the high-end Asian brands are an export market thing– But now that I think about it.. Didn’t Lexus semi-recently come home to Japan? Was that Infiniti instead?

Well, anyway, the original point– There may not be a Lexus brand in Japan, so there it may be called Toyota Prius v. 3.0 XLE or some such, and not PX150 or whatever silly letter/number class they’ll come up with for the North Americans. That may be why it’s wearing a T and not an L in it’s grille badge.

The previous generation Camry, Highlander, and Sienna shared platforms. Platform and drivetrain are under the surface – they may look alike, or completely different. A wagon body-style would look different from the current 4-door hatch at the very least.

I love that rendering with the 20″ rims, like those will ever see production on this car.

Now if Lexus is going to create this vehicle, should they really expend the resources to create a whole new platform? Only a few snobs actually care what platform a car is based on come purchase time. What buyers will care about is gettng the best they can for their cash. Since the best hybrid is the Prius, it makes sense that the best hybrid Lexus can make would also be based on the Prius.

The possibilities are endless. Do they put in a slightly larger gasoline engine to get more power, sacrificing a little mpg? Do they go for a completely different body style, or stick with the 5 door hatch? Do they offer more eco features like solar panels, recycled materials, or less in the name of luxury? And one would hope that leather would still only be an option, but what about wood trim, is that more or less ecologically friendly than plastic?

Clearly I am excited, my Prius lease should be up right around production time…..

Is that really a smart way to move forward?

First of all, $40k would probably represent the top of the price range. That having been said, if you take two undeniable trends together, namely people buying Prii for status reasons, and localized saturation of Prii (seeing them everywhere), it should be fairly obvious that status-oriented consumers will want to further stand out from the crowd. Ergo, the thing will do well. Combining status and green image is already working well with the RX400h and LS600h, so why not bring it to the small/mid platform?

But in the end, you’ll be paying somewhere around $40k for something that’s readily available for $25k.

Is that really a smart way to move forward?

Prius is the same size as the E46 3-series. It is certainly not as small as A3 or the 1-series.

“Given that Prius buyers are generally upscale income-wise, this is a logical move.”

I predict the exact opposite for the exact same reason.

driving the prius is driving the image of responsibility. they want to be seen not only as caring about the environment, but as being of the people, by the people, and for the people. sometimes it’s called “slumming it”

Btw Johnster, I’m not a huge fan of Chrysler or the PT Cruiser but I see them everywhere and they seemd to be a great seller (I could be wrong). Chrysler would have done well to build a decent successor to it rather than kill it. They’d probably have been better off nuking the Viper and euthanizing the Challenger before gettign this far and concentrating on a new PT. Caliber? LOL!

Bring on the aftermarket simulated wood-grain paneling. It worked so well on the PT Cruiser.

It is stuff like this that is the reason why Toyota’s foot is knee deep in the big three’s ass…..

Most on this site fall all over themselves to condemn Lincoln for re-badging Ford while calling the Lexus Prius logical. I mean–what is the strategic difference between taking a solid Taurus platform and making the MKS and said transformation of the Prius into a Lexus ? I don’t think there is much of a strategic difference—just sayin.

Bingo.

I can’t tell if you’re being facetious Juniper :(

The orginial rims on the Porsche 928 and 944.

Just kidding. Did anyone feel older for a second?

This car will sell many copies. It’s a no brainer.

Then again, this would be an example of Toyota giving customers what they want and in a way that they actually make a profit. The domestics should study this phenomenon.

I’m not the biggest Toyota fan and their proliferation of trucks/SUVs is insane, but at least they do more than just pay lip service to customers desires.

Looks like a slam dunk, just like upscale pony/muscle cars from Pontiac, Buick, Olds, Mercury, Plymouth, etc back in the 1960s. Gotta give the people what they want.