Lexus Looks to Push the Limits of What’s Possible for a Premium Brand

The bright lights and bustling crowds of Japan’s biggest city seem like the ideal backdrop for Lexus to lay out the potential plans for its future.

Tokyo is the sort of place where just about everything is open for reinvention and reinterpretation, and where reality can at times exceed what even the most vivid imaginations conjure up. But then there’s another side to the city — one of surprising tranquility, where dozens of temples and shrines are hidden amidst the busy streets, Tokyo’s highly charged (though exceptionally orderly) atmosphere surrounding them like tendrils from a different time.

The possibilities seem endless in a place like this, where tradition meets modernity in this wonderful — and sometimes weird and wild — home to more than 14 million inhabitants. And so it goes for Lexus, which is plotting a new course that could conceivably come to pass for a brand that’s long balanced attention-grabbing design with a more reserved demeanour.

Redefining As Much As Redesigning

It starts at the pinnacle of the portfolio, which is where you’ll find a fancy — and fanciful — van. The LS concept isn’t alone, with the brains behind the brand envisioning a multi-pronged approach to what a flagship can be, with a stylish (and supposedly sporty) crossover and even an autonomous single-person pod sitting alongside that six-wheeler at the top of the lineup.

Notably absent is a sedan, which is the sort of product that’s long defined luxury motoring even as the body style has fallen out of fashion among the car-buying public at large. Indeed, the LS — short for “Luxury Sedan” — was Lexus’s first-ever model and one that’s been a mainstay of its lineup in the 36 years since, and it’s precisely what this trio has been imagined to replace.

But there’s more to the story than a brand putting to pasture a slow-selling model and potentially replacing it with some radically different ones. Because as Lexus conceptualizes what its future could look like, Toyota is planning to spin its ultra-luxury Century nameplate into a standalone brand, with designs to take on the likes of Bentley and Rolls-Royce in global markets that could include Canada. According to Ian Cartabiano, who heads Toyota’s California-based design studio, it’s a decision being celebrated internally for the possibilities it opens for Lexus, too.

“It’s here to give Lexus the breathing space to do what Lexus does best,” Cartabiano said about the Century name’s expansion during a media preview event on the eve of the Japan Mobility Show. And that’s to take on rivals like BMW and Mercedes-Benz in the most competitive parts of the luxury market, just as it’s done since the brand’s birth — and that might even include vans.

Luxury Sedan Becomes Luxury Space

To be sure, lavish vans like the LS concept aren’t entirely without precedent, and the body style has proven popular in places where common sense prevails, including Lexus’s home market of Japan. There and elsewhere, you can already buy the Lexus LM — a striking peoplemover with sliding doors that’s similar in size to Toyota’s existing Sienna, although it’s a little taller overall. However, the LS concept takes the idea to new levels, and not just because it has six wheels.

It also isn’t alone, with Mercedes recently revealing its Vision V concept that previews a production van that’s coming to market in a couple years’ time. It’s a development that Cartabiano said Lexus has taken notice of, and not just because both vans were on display at the auto show in Tokyo. Instead, it’s indicative of what could be a trend as consumers reject current conventions, just as SUVs supplanted sedans as the de facto vehicle of choice.

In the case of the LS concept, the two-letter moniker that’s long stood for “Luxury Sedan” takes on a new meaning: Luxury Space. It’s one that’s designed to emphasize opulence as well as tranquility, and it draws on various sources for inspiration, including — you guessed it — Japan.

“It’s like we took 1,000 years of Japanese tradition and put it in the interior,” Cartabiano said of the LS concept’s cabin.

The most obvious example of this is the bamboo treatment on the windows that’s styled after the traditional bamboo blinds used in places like Japan for centuries. Among the advantages of this kind of window covering, according to Cartabiano, is the privacy it provides while still allowing light to pass through. Just as importantly, it offers occupants unobstructed views out.

“You can get that experience without having to use privacy glass, but it’s also really beautifully made, and it provides a really cool lighting experience,” he said.

A Familiar Face Deconstructed

On the subject of lighting, it isn’t just the interior of the LS concept that’s home to something unique; the exterior, too, has an eye-catching look, although it’s one that should be at least a little familiar. In particular, the front end has the same spindle shape Lexus has been using on its vehicles for years, except here — as well as with the LS Coupe concept shown alongside it in Tokyo — it’s been reimagined and almost deconstructed, existing only as thin LED strips.

“The spindle identity is part of Lexus design that’s not going anywhere,” Cartabiano said, “but how do we take it to the next level?”

He described the look, which has its own interpretation on the crossover-like LS Coupe concept, as a little cleaner than in its current forms, most of which take the place of a grille on Lexus’s internal combustion-powered vehicles. But even the all-electric RZ has its own version of the spindle, although it looks more like an evolution of the rest. Here, the brand’s designers have gone in a bolder direction that allows the hourglass-like shape to define the entire front end.

Final Thoughts

Tokyo is a city that’s been rebuilt a number of times over the years, usually preceded by devastation. In the case of Lexus, it’s intentional reinvention that’s leading the brand to explore new avenues of luxury. Whether or not these radical new LS concepts become reality remains to be seen, but there’s no doubt design will continue to play an integral role in Lexus’s future, with a particular emphasis on creating a comfortable and relaxing space for occupants.

“When it comes to a true luxury (vehicle), it’s very important for the passenger to feel that they are liberated — they can really relax inside,” said Koichi Suga, General Manager of Lexus Design Division. “That’s why it’s not just the engineering … we have to look into the mindset of the passenger, focus on that, and build an atmosphere (that) they can relax in.”