Lexus confirms seven-seat RX
Japanese luxury brand backflips on denials it's readying the first three-row version of its RX crossoverLexus has confirmed it will introduce a seven-seat version of its RX for the first time, almost two years after we revealed it was under consideration and six months after it ruled one out any time soon.
US General Manager for the Japanese luxury brand, Jeff Bracken, told Automotive News at last week's New York motor show that a three-row variant of the latest RX would indeed be released -- at least in the US – by the end of next year or in early 2018.
He said a seven-seat crossover from Lexus, which offers the truck-based LX570 and Toyota Prado-based GX in North America, was long overdue and that Lexus customers and dealers “would just love to have it now.”
“That’s not early enough,” Bracken said. “They would just love to have it now. But I think they’re quite relieved that they know it’s coming.”
Debunking reports that Lexus would adopt the TX nameplate for its first seven-seat crossover, Bracken said it will still wear the RX name, presumably to capitalise on its popularity.
“We’ll embrace the RX name,” Bracken said. “It will be something very close to what we have now with a minor variation.”
Indeed, the company recently trademarked the 'RX 350L' and 'RX 450 hL' names in the US, indicating it will be offered with the same V6 petrol and V6 hybrid powertrains as the standard five-seat RX.
Chief engineer of the fourth-generation RX, Takayuki Katsuda, told motoring.com.au at the global launch of the model last October that it was not possible to accommodate three rows of seats without changing the current model's design.
Therefore expect the first RX seven-seater to ride on a longer wheelbase, but to remain close to the five-seater in terms of exterior design.
"We put so much energy into the styling you see now that we didn’t want to compromise even with the third row,” Bracken told Automotive News.
Long one of the Toyota luxury brand's top-sellers both globally and in Australia, the Lexus RX competes with BMW's top-selling X5 and Audi's Q7, both of which come with seven seats.
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