Lexus already has some exciting new product coming through right now, including the plush LM minivan and tough GX SUV. But the automaker’s new boss says that’s nothing compared with what we’ll see from the brand in the second half of this decade.
We’ll get a taste of that future when Lexus unveils a new EV concept at the Japan Mobility Show next month, but the real action starts around 2026 when the first of a new generation of vehicles will make it to showrooms, each pushing design, luxury and also the performance of its electric drivetrain far beyond what we’re used to getting from Lexus cars and SUVs.
That’s according to the brand’s new global chief, Takashi Watanabe, who spoke to Auto News about what Lexus had in store for us in the years running up to its wholesale switch to electric power in 2035. The company claims it will be in a position to shift 1 million EVs annually by the end of the decade, up from fewer than 25,000 last year.
“In 2026, we will introduce the next-generation battery EV that re-innovates the vehicle modular structure, significantly alters our production methods and completely re-imagines the software platform,” Watanabe told reporters at Fuji Speedway this month, and also said that the design of future cars would be “prioritized… to embody the essence of Lexus.”
Next month’s concept will lift the lid a little on the new designs language and we can also expect Lexus to use the same battery tech that parent company Toyota has already promised could eventually give an electric driving range of almost 1,000 miles (1,600 km).
Related: New Lexus Concept To Debut In October, Previewing Production EV For 2026
While Lexus is keen to further distinguish itself from rival premium brands in terms of the look and character of its cars, Watanabe isn’t above pinching some good ideas from rivals like Tesla.
“We need to make it easier to build and simplify as much as possible,” Watanabe told Auto News, commenting that he and his team would “humbly look at and learn from” Tesla’s achievements. “One of our first steps will be modifying and rethinking our production methods,” he added.
Earlier this week we learned about Toyota’s giga casting technology, a technique that will surely be applied to Lexus production, too, though it’s another technology – a patented simulated manual transmission for EVs that could find its way onto a flagship electric sport car – that will have enthusiasts as well as engineers really interested in Lexus vehicles in a way they haven’t been since the days of the V10 LFA.