DShiekhi

Don't Hold Your Breath for a Lexus Crossover Smaller than the NX



August was <a href="https://www.clublexus.com/articles/lexus-sells-most-luxury-cars-for-second-straight-month/" target="_blank"><strong>a great month for Lexus in general and the NX in particular.</strong></a> If the brand's smallest crossover is doing so well, why not test the waters and go even smaller?

Read the rest on the ClubLexus.com homepage. >>

computerwi

I personally have zero interest in a smaller NX. Its already borderline for me. Any smaller and I'd just stick to a sedan.

Swacer

Why would someone want smaller than the NX?

And they do already have one...its called the IS.

corradoMR2

^^^Technically the CT is the smallest of the Lexus lineup and I have to agree, personally a CT-sized 5-door on stilts like the GLA is to the A-class, is not for me. However, is Lexus losing out on this trending segment - X1, GLA, Q3 and risks being late to the party like the NX was?

Swacer

Honestly, I think the X1 and GLA are ugly as #(* cars. They aren't quite a CUV, but they are too obtuse to be a car.

corradoMR2

Yeah, the GLA doesn't gel with me either with its frumpy looks. The '16 X1 though looks less wagon-like and more "SUV-like" which gets some visual points for me, but it's now based on the Mini-FWD platform which BMW-loyalists are...

Swacer

Saying that anything is Mini based is enough to send people running. What trash cars...

NXOwner

Folks here tend to mix acronyms and their meanings.

What are you guys' definition of CUV? Is it Compact Utility Vehicle (small SUV)? Is it Crossover Utility Vehicle (based on a car chassis)?

I'm sure some of you will quote and link to definitions from the internet, but even then (depending on which sites you visit) the meaning of CUV can be ambiguous.

hambone8

I always thought of a CUV as something that is cross platform. SRX (CTS pre redesign), Q3 (A3), Mazda C* (3, 6), etc.

15RC350F

Nearly every internet-based reference I can find says something very much like this (from Wikipedia, with my emphasis):

LexBob2

That's a good explanation. Since the segment is growing so much you now have sub-compact, compact, mid-size etc. segments of CUV's.

NXOwner

I had read that on Wikipedia. So, as I suspected, the NX is a Compact SUV and not a CUV.

15RC350F

That would be my opinion, yes.

NXOwner

That makes sense because I would consider the BMW X1 and Mercedes GLA as CUVs (crossover utility vehicles) since they both look like sedans—more specifically, like station wagons!

Swacer

Sometimes in hindsight that's what I think makes the NX feel like its less robust. It lacks a truck chassis.