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CARS GUIDE l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l l ntnews.com.au

Lexus heroenters fray

By PAUL GOVER

TheRC is about

passion and

excitivement, and

changing the brand

through design

and dynamic

driving

A PAIR of BMW battlersare the new priority forLexus as it gears up for theTokyo Motor Show laterthis month.

It’s going all-out with aproduction-ready rival tothe M3, as well as showingan SUV tease that points toa potential X3 opponent.

The M3 fighter is asmooth coupe called the RC,previewed — and outed as afull-scale production modelby Carsguide — at lastyear’s Paris motor show.

It is promised with3.5-litre V6 and 2.5-litre hy-brid power packs, but anRC prototype has alreadybeen caught testing at theNurburgring in Germanywith a V8 engine.

Everything points to afull-scale RC-F as the nextLexus hero car, taking overfrom the limited-editionand high-tech V10-powered— but massively unprofit-

able — LF-A supercar.There is less detail on the

LF-NX, but the dimensionsof the chunky SUV point tosomething in the X3 classand it would be a naturaldrive downwards from thehulking LX570 and the RXalready in showrooms.

‘‘We’re waiting for theTokyo show to get the fulldetails, on both fronts,’’says Tyson Bowen, spokes-man for Lexus Australia.

‘‘But there is a clear in-tent to test the waters for acompact SUV, and the RCis now a question of when,not if.

‘‘It’s just a matter of uslobbying for it locally.’’

The RC is believed to be amechanical hybrid of theIS and GS models, withthe width of the larger cargrafted onto the small-er wheelbase to providethe best cornering gripand balance.

On the engine front, it isalso likely to come with the

turbocharged two-litre,four-cylinder powerplantalready promised by Lexusin a mid-life update of theIS sedan.

The importance of boththe RC and NX is obvious,as Lexus is still battlingglobally to make any sig-nificant sales impact on itshigh-profile German rivalsin the prestige business.

Twitter @paulwardgover

But there is a

clear intent to

test thewaters

for a compact

SUV and theRC

is nowa

question of

when, not if