Marton Pettendy•3 Jul 2014
NEWS
Lexus NX from $55K
Hybrid to lead in new mid-size luxury SUV line-up, but turbo could also undercut $60,000Lexus has announced key Australian specifications and indicative pricing for its all-new mid-size luxury SUV, the NX, including a starting price of around $55,000.
Locked in for local launch in the last week of October, the Australian line-up will open with the circa $55K NX 300h hybrid, which has been confirmed as the entry-level model.
However, Lexus Australia CEO Sean Hanley said the NX 200t, which arrives in the first quarter of next year powered by the brand's first turbocharged petrol engine, will cost only around $2000 more than the hybrid.
The turbo is forecast to account for about 60 per cent of sales.
That means both NX powertrain variants could be priced from less than $60,000 and under the luxury car tax threshold, undercutting chief German rivals like the BMW X3 (from $60,900) and Australia's top-selling mid-size luxury SUV, the Audi Q5 (from $63,600).
"In terms of pricing I'd expect us to [start] somewhere around the $55,000 to $60,000 mark," said Hanley at the NX international launch this week.
"It's our desire to bring the hybrid in at the entry level. And there won't be a massive premium for the turbo. It won't be $5000 – it will be more like $2000."
Unlike the ES sedan, which was the first Lexus model to launch with a hybrid variant as the price-leader, the entry-level NX 300h will not come with less standard equipment than the cheapest petrol model.
Hanley categorically ruled out the Australian release of the naturally aspirated NX 200 which will be sold in some markets. However, both of Australia's entry-level NX Luxury models will be front-wheel drive.
All other model variants will be all-wheel drive, including the NX 300h and NX 200t in both mid-range Sports Luxury and top-shelf F Sport grades.
Final pricing and specifications won't be announced until the end of August, but standard features across the range will include eight airbags, reversing camera, parking sensors, 18-inch alloy wheels, LED low-beam headlights, a 10-speaker sound system and aluminium roof rails.
A range of advanced safety aids will be available, including All-speed Active Cruise Control, Blind Spot Monitor, Lane Departure Warning, Pre-Collision Safety System and Panoramic View Monitor.
Flagship F Sport models will feature unique 18-inch alloys, a sports bodykit, unique interior, steering wheel gearshift paddles and sports suspension with a variable damping system.
Lexus claims a number of world-first features for the NX, including power-folding rear seats (60/40-split) and a touchpad-style Remote Touch Interface with vibration feedback, plus an Australian-first wireless mobile phone charger.
Apart from a 2.0-litre turbo-petrol engine, Lexus firsts include an idle-stop system for a petrol engine, LED cornering lamps, full-colour turbo boost meter (for F Sport models) and touch-operated overhead lighting.
Australia's NX pricing structure is at odds with that in Japan, where the NX 300t is the base model, priced around $7000 lower than the NX 300h, but Hanley said the widespread deployment of the 2.5-litre petrol-electric drivetrain, a version of which is seen in the Camry Hybrid, had resulted in better economies of scale.
"My desire is the hybrid variant will be somewhat cheaper than the turbo," he said.
"We shouldn't necessarily be charging a premium for an engine that is now a standard part of the range and will eventually be half of all Lexus sales."
Hanley denied suggestions that buyers of the NX 300h were being subsidised by NX 200t customers to prop up sales of the hybrid, supplies of which will be limited.
"The hybrid [cost] premium is coming down. Acceptance and the volumes of hybrid are greater, so the cost to build that technology is significantly less than it was.
"The NX hybrid system is shared with ES and IS. The development cost is shared with other cars over a long time. The turbo is new. You pay more for new technology."
The local Lexus chief also refuted claims of price 'gouging', given reports the NX 200t will be priced from about US $40,000 in North America.
"There are lots of things we look at in a business case. We operate in a very competitive market. In Australia we have a higher standard specification, higher taxes and higher transport costs, but lower volume. You can't compare our market with theirs."
Just as the larger RX crossover (Lexus Australia's top-selling model before the latest IS medium sedan arrived) is positioned between German rivals like the X3/Q5 and X5/Q7, the NX is positioned between the X1/Q3 and X3/Q5 in terms of both size and price.
"The NX is kind of unique – like the RX. It sits in the middle, in the sweet spot – across a number of segments," said Hanley.
"The German brands have a different strategy. We'll do it our way."
For now, Lexus has ruled out a smaller SUV than the NX, which rides on a 2660mm wheelbase and measures 4630mm long, 1845mm wide and 1639mm high.
That makes it slightly shorter but about the same width as the Q5, 140mm shorter than the five-seat RX (which offers similar rear legroom and less boot space, at 446 litres) and 60mm longer than the RAV4, on which Lexus says the NX is "loosely based" and shares only 10 per cent of its parts.
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Written byMarton Pettendy
Our team of independent expert car reviewers and journalists
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