Lexus is showcasing several vehicles at the New York International Auto Show. The centerpiece of Lexus’ exhibit is the Lexus CT 200h premium compact hybrid, which will be on display for the first time in North America. As the only dedicated hybrid vehicle in the premium compact segment, the CT 200h is expected to lead the class in fuel economy numbers and standard safety features including eight airbags.

The CT200h exhibit is entitled, “The Darker Side of Green,” a slogan that will appeal to a more aggressive buyer. Playing at the exhibit is a pulsing, flashing 60-second trailer for the vehicle on a multi-screen system. It is designed to appear to be a trailer more for an explosive action film than for a compact hybrid.

So it appears that Lexus’ intent is to produce a sensible car, but its marketing will attempt to downplay everything sensible and instead try to sell it as adventurous and sexy. This one will be aggressively eco-friendly- the rich man’s Prius.

Truly adventurous is the Lexus LFA, the automaker’s first world-class, 550 hp supercar, will also be featured. Only a limited number of these hand-built vehicles will be distributed worldwide. Visitors can interact with the “LFA Configurator,” which gives them an opportunity to build their own computerized dream car – with selected colors, wheels and calipers – and send the image to an email address or post to their favorite social media web site.

This entry was posted on Saturday, April 3rd, 2010 at 3:34 am and is filed under Future cars, Hybrid, Lexus, Safety, Toyoland, Toyota. You can follow any responses to this entry through the RSS 2.0 feed. Both comments and pings are currently closed.