Toyota to launch the Lexus luxury brand in the Indian market with ES300h
Toyota has been planning to introduce Lexus luxury brand in the Indian market for quite sometime. The Japanese car maker has conducted several feasibility studies and has now finally made up its mind to enter the growing luxury car market.
The Luxury auto maker will drive in the hybrid models in India and will choose the CBU route initially.
First-up would the ES300h which happens to be a Hybrid vehicle. The Lexus ES300h Hybrid isn’t just like any other boring Hybrid, but is very stylish, futuristic, and is definitely not dull to drive.
The gasoline engine is mated to an electric motor Electronically controlled CVT adding up to 200 bhp. The best part is that the vehicle still returns 17 kmpl. That’s really an excellent figure considering the segment it is aiming for.
The figures of the vehicle completely justify that. The sedan goes from 0-100 Kmph in 8.1 seconds( quicker than Merc-E class). The power unit which is a 2.5 lit four cylinder gasoline engine, manages to churn out 160 bhp of power at 5700 RPM.
For the thorough enthusiasts who also may be environmental friendly, there is a 3.5 lit v6 engine waiting in the wings. Lexus might introduce this variant though only after it has garnered enough feedback from the customers.
Being a Lexus, the vehicle is surely going to be packed to the brim with features. The features might include the first in class the 4.2-inch Thin Film Transistor (TFT) color multi-information display with Remote Touch Interface (RTI) control, regenerative braking to name a few.
Toyota is making an all out effort to make the Lexus ES300h available by this September
The Lexus ES300h is expected in the price bracket of above Rs 50 Lakh and it will be interesting to see how the three German car-makers react to this launch.
Lexus has a large portfolio globally and retails the following models
Sedans – IS, ES, ES Hybrid, GS, GS Hybrid, GS F, LS and LS Hybrid
SUV – NX, NX Hybrid, RX, RX Hybrid, GX and LX
Coupes – RC, RC F
The ultra-premium Lexus LX is one of the very popular vehicle among the Bollywood super-stars. Apart from that there haven’t been many famous models to boast about.
