A year ago, common wisdom was that Lexus would debut the production version of its LF-A super car at the Tokyo motor show in October of this year. Later, most industry observers assumed we’d see an updated concept. Instead, the Tokyo Motor Show came and went, and we got neither.
According to a new report, development of the LF-A is definitely not going according to plan, and delays are due to a number of internal issues plaguing the project.
As indicated by previous reports, the scope of the project expanded to include both a V10 version and a V8 hybrid version — a move that has surely contributed to the delay.
Toyota has also apparently diverted engineers and resources from the LF-A project to other, more mainstream tasks, according to Winding Road. Apparently, Toyota’s push from global expansion has made projects like the LF-A less worthy of resources.
Lastly, engineers are said to be struggling to make the car reach an internal top speed goal of 350 km/h (218 mph), which has been publicized since the first concept’s debut.
In May of 2006, a report surfaced indicating Lexus decided to ditch plans for an aluminum body and instead opt for a carbon fiber one. It’s not known if this report is accurate, or if that decision also plays into the delays.
The most recent LF-A concept debuted at the Detroit auto show in January.
