LEXUS GS450H

Just over a year since the local launch of the GS 450h, Lexus has sold hybrid number 1000 in Australia

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It's not a convergence that immediately springs to mind; miserly fuel economy and luxury car maker.

Nonetheless, Lexus has announced 1000 hybrid-drive vehicles sold in Australia since releasing the GS 450h hybrid in May last year (more here).

Not all the sales were the petrol/electric GS model, of course. In fact, two thirds of Lexus hybrid sales were racked up by the hybrid SUV, the RX 400h (more here).

The announcement was made a matter of months away from the launch of the LS600hL (pictured; we can decode that for you, by the way) and was accompanied by the news that hybrid vehicle sales of all makes combined had grown by 93.3 per cent YTD, compared with 2006.

Does the Lexus experience indicate that people are flocking to hybrids in droves because fuel prices are going through the roof? Perhaps not.

Perhaps, it's more a matter of selling a technological tour de force to discriminating buyers with the discretionary income to indulge their concern for the environment. If you're a (Lexus) hybrid buyer, we'd like to know your motives...

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Powered By Motoring.com.au Published : Tuesday, 4 September 2007
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