Lexus has recently unveiled its new product GS300h in Europe. The newly disclosed car is a hybrid, as Lexus officials confirm.<\/p>\n
Richard Balshaw, Lexus UK director, affirmed that 97% of all Lexus sold in the UK next year are expected to be hybrids.<\/p>\n
The GS300h\u2019s deputy chief engineer, Yukihiro Kito, also confirmed that the return of diesel-powered Lexus vehicles is unexpected to happen in the near future\u2014if at all.<\/p>\n
According to Kito-san, diesel just does not make sense for Lexus given the markets the company is chiefly competitive in, which is to say the USA and Asia.<\/p>\n
In the UK and Europe, luxury sales are dominated by turbodiesels. New models such as the GS300h\u2014and smaller IS300h\u2014come in. Combining a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with an electric motor and battery pack, these now offer CO2 emissions that are directly comparable with their diesel rivals.<\/p>\n
In fact, in the example of the GS300h, Lexus believes the petrol-electric hybrid solution is better than the traditional diesel approach, claiming more power (223hp in this case) with lower CO2 (as little as 109g\/km).<\/p>\n
With pricing starting at just under \u00a331,495, company car drivers can potentially save up to \u00a34,300 in Benefit-in-Kind tax by going down the hybrid route. Regular road tax is just \u00a320 a year.<\/p>\n","protected":false},"excerpt":{"rendered":"
Lexus has recently unveiled its new product GS300h in Europe. The newly disclosed car is a hybrid, as Lexus officials confirm. Richard Balshaw, Lexus UK director, affirmed that 97% of all Lexus sold in the UK next year are expected to be hybrids. The GS300h\u2019s deputy chief engineer, Yukihiro Kito, also confirmed that the return …<\/p>\n