Lexus hybrid SUV orders set record
9,000 'pre-sold' orders; customers can track birth of their car

By Miguel Llanos
MSNBC
Updated: 11:09 a.m. ET Sept. 8, 2004


What's the hottest Lexus that's not on the market yet? A gas-electric SUV that gets higher mileage and emits fewer pollutants than its gas-only rivals.

Lexus said this week that its dealers had taken more than 9,000 "pre-sold" orders for the 2006 RX 400h through the end of August.

That's "significantly more pre-launch orders for the 400h than we've had for any vehicle in our entire 15-year history," Lexus General Manager Denny Clements said in a statement.

Plans had been to sell the 400h by year-end, but Lexus recently pushed that back to early next year.

New birthing system
Lexus this week said it will provide wait-list customers with detailed information on manufacturing and shipment schedules. Customers will even get to take part in the birth of their car, Lexus said, as dealers will be able to assign a customer's name to a specific 400h before production and then track it through delivery.

"Although we're pleased with the early public response to the 400h, we are mindful of our need to respond to these customers in a timely manner," Clements said.

Lexus added that a specific timeline for showroom models will be announced after pre-production prototypes are tested later this month.

Lexus, a Toyota division, hasn't set pricing yet but the 400h is comparable to a Lexus RX 330, which lists for around $36,000. Hybrids typically run from $2,000-$4,000 more than their gas-only siblings.

Some specs
Lexus said preliminary specs for the 400h include:

270 horsepower.
Mileage "significantly better" than the 28 mpg that an average compact sedan gets.
New pollution controls.
"You can drive the 400h from Los Angeles to New York and back nine times and produce less smog-forming emissions than painting a room in your house," Toyota Vice President Irv Miller told industry analysts earlier this year.

Lexus hasn't said how many 400hs it plans to manufacture monthly, and industry watchers caution it may take some time before Lexus can deliver them to consumers.

Other hybrids
Toyota said its other promised hybrid, a gas-electric Highlander SUV, would follow the 400h debut. It already markets the best-selling hybrid Prius sedan.

Honda, the first to sell a hybrid in the United States, has two models out and plans a hybrid Civic by year-end.

Other carmakers are following, particularly Ford which was first with a hybrid SUV. The hybrid Escape made its debut this month.

The industry sees hybrids as a platform to eventually use with fuel cells, which would replace internal combustion engines by combining hydrogen and water to create electricity that would power a vehicle.

"Our hybrid system will also make up the heart of our hydrogen fuel-cell program," Toyota President Fujio Cho told an industry conference last month.

The Associated Press contributed to this report.


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Simply amazing. I like it when the experienced ones break it down in terms that normal people can relate to and understand. I'm very impressed by what is capable today.

There's already a Civic hybrid and it's been around for a decent amount of time. Strange.

I like that they mention how Ford bought crucial hybrid technology from Toyota They gave ford the first hybrid SUV.

James

 

i think they are talking about the honda accord hybrid instead of civic. i m sure that accord hybrid is due by the end of this year or so.

 

i think it's pretty crazy that people acutally buying cars w/o even test driving it. esp when they have different type of power train and so on.

 

Yes, but that happen quite often for hot models, the new Prius, the SC430, Mercedes SL . . . etc. all have thousands of pre-orders before they even came out.

 

I'm extremely anxious to see how this new RX400h is recieved. Insiders and auto enthusiasts (with the money to do so) are the only ones that have pre-ordered.

Consumers at large have no idea that this car is about to drop.

M.

 

i have a question.

if theyr naming it the RX400h, and the "400" designates engine size, then how is the car a v6? or is Lexus doing away with its model nomenclature? or did Lexus go and get a 4.0L V6 w/o telling me?

questions questions....help?

 

I think lexus is just screwing with nomenclature, to my dismay. I think it's stupid, unless it really is the 4.0L V6.

But what really caught my attention was the order tracking and details, very cool stuff. This has been avaliable in Asia and Europe for a while, and now we finally get it. Awesome. Makes me wonder, will the hybrids be built in Japan or Canada?

 

I think it stands for 4.0L V8 like performance, or 4cyl fuel economy....I forgot though

 

The 400 designate is Lexus' way of telling us that the electric engine is worth .7L. Though it's still running on the 3.3 L V6.