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<\/p>\n\n While rivals rethink EV investments, Lexus is betting that flexibility and Toyota’s scale will play to its advantage <\/p>\n
https:\/\/www.carscoops.com\/author\/chris-chilton-cc\/
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by Chris Chilton<\/a><\/p>\n 2 hours ago<\/p>\n Lexus plans EVs and hybrids from one common vehicle architecture.<\/p>\n Flexible platforms help preserve profits if consumer tastes change.<\/p>\n Experts say Lexus benefits from Toyota technology and buying power.<\/p>\n For years, automakers, including Lexus that once pledged to go EV-only by 2035<\/a>, told us the future would be electric. Now that EV growth has cooled in several key markets, many of those same companies are quietly changing course, often at a huge cost. Lexus, however, thinks it has found a smarter, less financially painful way forward. <\/p>\n Related: The 2027 Lexus TZ Borrows The Highlander\u2019s Bones And The LFA\u2019s V10 Voice<\/a><\/p>\n Instead of betting everything on dedicated EV platforms, or U-turning in favor of old-fashioned gas cars, Toyota\u2019s luxury division is developing vehicles that can be built as either hybrids or fully electric models using much of the same underlying architecture. It\u2019s a strategy designed to give Lexus<\/a> maximum flexibility while competitors wrestle with expensive shifts in demand.<\/p>\n One Platform, Two Powertrains<\/p>\n
Future products will be designed so the two brands can install either a battery pack or a hybrid powertrain within essentially the same vehicle structure, according to Lexus and Toyota executives who presented the plan to Handelsblatt<\/a> and other media at the Shimoyama development center in Japan. That means Lexus can react faster if customer demand swings toward EVs, hybrids, or somewhere in between. Or if the next US president reinstates tax credits for cleaner vehicles.<\/p>\n Toyota CTO Hiroki Nakajima told reporters that Lexus\u2019s upcoming TZ electric SUV <\/a>is expected to be profitable from launch in North America. That\u2019s a claim many automakers would love to make right now, because some, like Honda\/Acura and Porsche, are hurting badly from having written off billions of dollars in EV development, and US EV sales are dire.<\/p>\n Christopher Richter, an automotive analyst at CLSA in Tokyo, traces that edge to Lexus\u2019s lower cost base. Toyota doesn\u2019t break out Lexus financials, but Richter told the German outlet he figures the brand\u2019s margins sit well into the double digits. By comparison, Mercedes posted a return on sales of 5% last year and BMW<\/a> managed 5.3%. The trick, Richter says, is that Lexus can charge BMW money while leaning on the purchasing volume and development resources of the world\u2019s largest carmaker.<\/p>\n
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\n The 2026 Toyota Highlander
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