The Lexus LF-Ch has officially broken cover at the 2009 Frankfurt Motor Show. The car serves as a showcase of Lexus’ latest hybrid technology, plus offers a sneak peek at the styling direction for a future luxury hatchback model.
As evidenced by the photos in our gallery, the LF-Ch will take the form of a sporty hatchback, pinning Lexus’ smallest offering against the likes of the BMW 1-Series, Audi A3 and Volvo C30. It remains to be seen if the production model will be offered with a three-door option, but the concept boasts a more practical five-door configuration.
The production LF-Ch will undoubtedly be offered with at least one hybrid drivetrain, but it’s possible Lexus will also offer the hatch with a regular gas motor or Euro-friendly diesel.
Tadashi Arashima, Lexus’ head European marketing chief, confirmed late last year that a new small car was under development for the European market, but that doesn’t necessarily rule out U.S. availability.
In fact, previous reports have suggested the baby Lexus could hit our shores by 2012. Also interesting is the fact that the LF-Ch was styled in America at the Calty research and design center located in Newport Beach, Calif.
“We look forward to hearing feedback on the LF-Ch,” said Mark Templin, Lexus division group vice president and general manager. “We hope consumers like what they see so we can change the luxury hybrid marketplace again.”
09/15, 11:00 AM
posted by:
QR25SpecV
Love it. It’s stunning, but I don’t see Lexus fitting into the U.S. hot hatch market. I’m sick of the stupid hybrids! Bring me the diesel option, it will be better on fuel.
09/15, 11:33 AM
posted by:
ChuckTown86
It looks much better now. Correct me if I am wrong, but did Lexus present three different hatchbacks or were they all designs leading to this as the final product? I do not remember the names but one sketch vehicle was blue (I think it is the LF-Ch car just in a different color shown here, not sure); http://www.whipnotic.com/latest/lexus-teases-sketch-of-upcoming-c-premium.html
and the other vehicle was silver; http://lexusenthusiast.com/2009/08/03/a-lexus-hatchback-rendering-by-auto-express/. Could not find the LLN article. Anyhow if they do have THREE different planned hatchbacks, I say make the LF-Ch the new Matrix and make the other two as Lexus’ models.
09/15, 11:48 AM
posted by:
IIL
Pretty nice for Lexus, but they’ll never make a production vehicle this radical.
09/15, 11:54 AM
posted by:
ktulu
Lexus SUCKS!
09/15, 12:04 PM
posted by:
RaineMan
I doubt the US will ever see another sports car from the Geriatric Car Company. Supra was the last “hurrah” folks. The average Toyota buyer is over 50 years old now… so they are more concerned with competing with the likes of Honda and Buick… neither of which make sports cars.
09/15, 12:29 PM
posted by:
ricky_b
I like the styling. A bit on the “Hot Wheels” side of design but it looks good on this scale.
09/15, 12:52 PM
posted by:
majoodmud
if lexus make this car i will make sure to get one
09/15, 12:53 PM
posted by:
2WheeledSpeed
Well I don’t really like it. But at least they tried with this one, it’s definitely not typical Lexus boring.
09/15, 1:19 PM
posted by:
alsvw
now this is more like it lexus, looks like a blinged out vw scirocco. the front does look like a mole cricket.
09/15, 1:22 PM
posted by:
cire_1wb
Still not really feeling it.
09/15, 1:45 PM
posted by:
aesir
The more I see this, the more I like it.
09/15, 1:52 PM
posted by:
johnnycanuck
I’m feeling it. However I just took a couple of Tums and that fixed me up.
09/15, 2:18 PM
posted by:
CADDY-V
I think the only thing that makes this car look even a little good is the paint. It helps hide the ugly design. What would this thing look like if it had a common color on it like black or white?
Why use such a wild color to get peoples eyes of the design?
Unless the designers themselves knew the car sucked?…….Well that’s toyota design for ya.
09/15, 2:24 PM
posted by:
shaver
Arrowheads! Thats the best they could come up with?
09/15, 2:45 PM
posted by:
CiNO
It’s not a good one, but I hope that production car will be better. hmmm and I like X1 alot.
09/15, 3:34 PM
posted by:
tyler_is_aero_tt
Yeah it definitely looks better in pictures and perhaps even better in real life. I actually am starting to really like this! I would take one in blue.
09/15, 3:53 PM
posted by:
JSi
looks like they put a yaris in a microwave oven and it melted…
09/15, 10:23 PM
posted by:
alsvw
jsi. you could be on to something. a melted version of the yaris. that pretty much describes the buick/lexus design team.
09/15, 10:52 PM
posted by:
larsim
Is this a car?
09/16, 10:37 AM
posted by:
Borat
I like this hatch. Looks great, for Europe.
09/16, 3:30 PM
posted by:
beatusmongous
This looks like a ricer’s dream car. From some angles, it looks decent, but for the most part, it’s not very good. The interior is interesting, and I kind of like it with the exception of a few weird curves. I don’t think we’ll see too many of these on the road. I think it would be more appealing as a Scion or a Toyota, instead of a Lexus.