Lexus LF-Gh Hybrid

The Lexus GS sedan can be considered the Jan Brady of luxury sedans.
Capable, but generally unremarkable and hardly a segment-smasher.
Evidently, Lexus’s middle child is ready to shake things up, and will
strut its stuff as the LF-Gh hybrid concept on the show stand at the 2011
New York auto show.

Lexus claims to have started with a clean sheet of paper, but from the
side it looks a lot like a scaled-up version of the IS sedan, while the
body-side contouring appears virtually identical to that of the big LS.
The LF-Gh measures 192.5 inches long by 73.6 inches wide, making it about
2.5 inches longer and almost two inches wider than today’s GS450h. However
derivative of its production siblings the car may be, it should be noted
that the LF-Gh’s more-conventional sedan shape represents a shift from the
fast profile of GS generation three. But don’t rule out the introduction
of a sexy five-door fastback to the GS lineup, to counter the likes of the
Audi A7; it’s possible that the Japanese company could jump on that
German-led bandwagon.

Among the immediately noticeable stylistic elements are LED headlamps
rendered in funky bubbled glass; an attractive rear end with razor-sharp
taillamps that wrap around the side; and of course, the massive, pinched
“spindle-shaped” grille, which shows there’s a pulse at the Lexus design
studio—it’s bound to stir up some controversy. Also worth noting are the
separate L-shaped banks of LED running lamps up front and the sharp
sheetmetal-to-bumper cutline at the rear. Lexus says that the LF-Gh
concept “explores a minimization of traditional features such as side
mirrors and door handles,” the result of which looks pretty cool here but
definitely won’t make production.

The company was short on details regarding the interior other than to
mention it will be driver-oriented—a sharp departure from the current
GS—and will feature a clock with a three-dimensional face. (So, uh, a
regular clock?) Lexus also declined to say much about what’s under the
skin of the concept, other than to mention the 20-inch wheels are turned
by one of its hybrid powertrains; presumably, this means a V-6/electric
combo that will beat the current GS450h’s 292 hp, 267 lb-ft of torque, and
EPA city/highway ratings of 22/25 mpg. Production models will certainly
also have six- and possibly eight-cylinder gas-only options.