Lexus Regains Crown in J.D. Power's 2012 Dependability Study, Chrysler, Dodge and Jeep Flop

Each year, J.D. Power and Associates release their findings on the overall dependability of three-year old vehicles sold in the States. The 2012 Dependability Study polled some 31,000 owners of 2009 model-year vehicles measuring problems they experienced in the past 12 months.

To understand the numbers you see listed below, the "overall dependability" is determined by the level of problems experienced per 100 vehicles (PP100), with a lower score translating to higher quality.

In this year's study, J.D. Powers found that overall vehicle dependability improved substantially as the industry average was 132 problems per 100 vehicles, representing a 13 percent improvement from last year (151 PP100), while it's also the lowest problem rate since the survey began in 1990.

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New Lexus GS Priced from £32,995 in Britain

The new generation of Lexus' GS sedan is gradually making its way to most markets around the world. Today, the Japanese automaker released pricing for the UK market where the GS is available for order now with first customer deliveries to take place in mid-June.

The range starts from £32,995 for the GS 250 while the full hybrid GS 450h starts from £44,995. The GS 250 is powered by a 2.5-liter V6 petrol engine delivering 206bhp while the GS 450h combines a 3.5-liter Atkinson-cycle V6 petrol engine with the Lexus Hybrid Drive for a total system output of 338bhp.

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Sports Illustrated Swimsuit Model Tori Praver Spreads Out for New 2013 Lexus GS

Lexus is playing the curvalicious card of Sports Illustrated Swimsuit model Tori Praver in its latest campaign for the all-new 2013 GS sedan.

As the official automotive marketing partner of the Sports Illustrated Swimsuit property, the Japanese company is taking advantage (or so to speak…) of Praver and using her in a multi-faceted campaign called TORI 500, showcasing an actual racetrack designed around her body.

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2013 Lexus RX Facelift gets Spindle Grille and New F Sport Variant

The photos you see here are scans from a leaked brochure of the Japanese market 2012 Lexus RX that has received a mid-life facelift, three years after its market launch in early 2009. The updated RX will be available in North America as a 2013 model.

Following in the footsteps of its bigger brother, the 2013 Lexus LX 570 that was introduced in January, the refreshed RX gains a new fascia featuring Lexus's new trademark spindle grille along with revised headlamps sporting LED daytime running lights and a redesigned front bumper.

Also new are the tail lamp graphics and the alloy wheel designs.

The interior gets a news steering wheel design and refreshed trim options while as Carscoop tipster Leopaul pointed out; Lexus will also be offering a new optional rear-seat entertainment system on high-range models.

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New Study Examines Why Luxury Car Buyers Stay Loyal to their Brands

Brand loyalty is a priority for any car manufacturer. It ensures that they have a healthy core of buyers who will remain loyal when the time comes to change their car for a new one. Luring customers away from a rival, or “conquest” sales, as it is commonly known in the industry, is also one of their key objectives.

Therefore, when a report like the 2012 New Luxury Vehicle Loyalty Study comes out, you can bet automakers pay attention. Conducted by Polk and AutoTrader, the study examines the reasons why luxury car buyers stay loyal or “defect” to another brand.

“Understanding behaviors and attitudes is critical in helping automotive marketers to more effectively reach and influence luxury shoppers during their decision making process”, said vice president of automotive insights at AutoTrader, Rick Wainschel.

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Lexus Unleashes "The Beast", its 2012 Super Bowl Commercial on the 2013 GS

Like most carmakers this Super Bowl season, Lexus gave us a small teaser of the commercial it will air during the big game on February 5 earlier this month.

However, you won't have to wait for the football match to see Lexus' first ever Super Bowl ad its entirety as the Japanese brand has just unleashed "The Beast", which is the name of the commercial featuring the 2013 GS saloon.

The 30-second long spot, which will run at the end of the first quarter of Super Bowl XLVI, shows the new executive model breaking free from a metal container. If you look at the back, you'll see four more boxes which Lexus says represent the additional new models it plans to reveal later this year.

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TRD Suits up the New 2013 Lexus GS F Sport Sedan in Japan

As soon as Lexus rolled out the new 2013 GS sedan in Japan on Thursday, its parent company's performance division, Toyota Racing Developments (TRD), came out with a selection of upgrade parts for the F Sport model.

We'll remind you that the F Sport package for the new GS already includes an aero kit with different front and rear bumpers, a mesh front grille, side skirts and a rear spoiler along with 19-inch wheels and a tuned suspension.

So what does TRD's package add on top of that? Well, namely a pair of splats for the front bumper, an add-on part for the side skirts, a larger boot lid spoiler, a rear apron and quad tailpipes with a blue outline.

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Lexus Does the Walk and Talk Around the LF-LC Sports Coupe Concept

One of the most attention-grabbing design studies at this year's 2012 Detroit Motor Show was the Lexus LF-LC, a prototype for a sports coupe powered by an unspecified hybrid powertrain.

Lexus says that its goal with the concept was to share its vision of what a premium sports coupe could look like with the public as well as to display the brand's evolved styling language and future technologies.

In this new video, the Japanese company's designers from its Calty Studio in California, which was responsible for the creation of the LF-LC, talk us through all the design details. Hop over the break to check it out.

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Is this the First Privately Owned Lexus LFA to Crash?

There's always a first for everything and while sometimes that may be good, there are times you wish you weren't the one to pop the cherry (or so to speak) – like being the first private customer known to have crashed the $375,000 Lexus LFA.

There's not a lot of information going around about the incident nor can we confirm that it's the first ever privately owned LFA to crash.

However, the buffs over at Club Lexus say that this is LFA No 142 that was originally delivered in Orlando, while the folks at Lexus Enthusiast add that according to the CarFax report, the accident occurred on October 8, 2011.

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2013 Lexus LX 570 Prices Rise $1,475, Starts at $81,805*

The facelifted LX 570 SUV has arrived at Lexus dealerships in the U.S. with a starting price of $80,930 or $81,805 (*) after a delivery, processing and handling fee of $875, which represents an increase of 1.9 percent or $1,475 over the outgoing model. Read more »

Watch a Lexus IS-F Drifter Drive On Top of a Set of Concrete Blocks

After watching the following videos over and over again, the kindest explanation we can give about this incident that took place during the demo drift run at last week's Tokyo Auto Salon is that something went wrong and all of a sudden the driver of the Lexus was confronted with a locked steering wheel and stuck gas pedal.

Now, if that's not the case, then the driver of the IS-F racer not only has a lot of explaining to do but he should probably also avoid making any public appearances for the near future…

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Lexus Teases its First Ever Super Bowl Commercial as it Prepares to Refresh its Range

Despite losing its sales crown in the premium segment to BMW last year, Lexus is poised to regain its position as the best-selling luxury brand in the U.S. and has officially announced that it is readying nine new or updated models for 2012.

These include the all-new GS sedan and facelifted LX 570 SUV that arrive in February, followed later this year by refreshed versions of the ES, IS and LS

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Lexus LFA Roadster Appears at the D1GP Kick Off Drift Event!

This just in; we just found out that a convertible version of the Lexus LFA supercar made an unsuspected and very surprising debut at the D1GP Kick Off Drift event on the sidelines of the Tokyo Auto Salon 2012 outside the Makuhari Messe convention center.

Details remain extremely thin for now but we'll be searching for more information and pass it on as soon as we receive it. That said, we don't know yet if it's a one-off custom creation, a Lexus prototype or the first of a limited production series to be released onto the market.

The white-colored LFA convertible with the red interior featured a carbon fiber-dressed rollbar behind the front seats. It's a fully functional model as the unnamed driver demonstrated some drifting skills at the event.

More to come so stay tuned. For now, follow the jump to see the car in the video

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Lexus gives the 2013 LX 570 Luxury SUV a New Face

While all cameras where flashing around the impressive LF-LC sports concept, Lexus quietly rolled out an updated version of its LX 570 full-size luxury SUV for the 2013 model year.

The 2013 LX 570 receives the new Lexus family look, which was introduced on the third-generation GS sedan. The styling revisions include a new “spindle” grille, redesigned headlights and larger fog lamp bezels, turn signals integrated in the side mirrors, revised bumpers on both ends, a new number plate surround and updated tail lamp graphics.

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Lexus LF-LC Sports Coupe Concept Bows at the Detroit Auto Show [38 Photos + Video]

We've been waiting for a while for Lexus to fully reveal its new LF-LC sports coupe concept and the wraps finally came off today at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit.

The LF-LC concept's primary role is to showcase the future design direction for Lexus though we secretly hope that it could also lay the foundation for a production sports coupe.

While the Japanese company provides a ton of information on the styling details, the only piece of information we get about the concept's hardware is that it sports a front-mounted engine with an Advanced Lexus Hybrid Drive that powers the rear wheels.

“The concept we’re showing here in Detroit continues the Lexus design revolution started with the CT and GS,” said Mark Templin, Lexus group vice president and general manager. “The concept hybrid 2+2 liberates the idea of a sport coupe and pushes the boundaries of performance, style and technology," he added.

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And the Best-Selling Premium Brand in the U.S. for 2011 is…

The one thing we knew for sure after the manufacturing disruptions in Japan caused by the March 2011 earthquake and tsunami was that Lexus wasn’t going to top the premium segment in the U.S. market for the first time in a decade. In fact, we also knew something else, the two contenders to the throne: BMW and Mercedes-Benz.

What we didn’t know up until Thursday is which of two brands was going to win, since both were caught in a neck-to-neck sales race. Going into December the gap was so small - less than 1,600 cars- that the win could go either way.

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Nitrous Overload Sends Lexus IS 350 Smashing into the Wall

Like the say, “with great power comes great responsibility”. So when you decide to make use of Nitrous oxide (also referred to simply as NOS) to juice up your engine's performance on the road or on the track, you should be prepared to handle the butt kicking effects.

The owner of this gunmetal grey Lexus IS 350 sedan allegedly gave an overdose of NOS to his six-cylinder engine during a quarter mile drag race with another IS model and the results were disastrous, though the outcome could have been much, much worse if the other car didn't manage to slip away…

Head on past the break to see the video for yourself.

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2011 U.S. Sales: Detroit's Big 3 and Koreans Report Strong Gains, Honda and Toyota Feel the Pinch

In the year that just ended, some automakers have a lot to be grateful for while others including Japan's biggest car brands would rather forget due to the Tsunami as well as the Thailand floods that significantly hurt their production lines during 2011.

Starting with the American carmakers, General Motors saw its U.S. sales rise 13.7 percent last year to 2,503,820 units. Chevrolet led the way with 1,775,812 units (+13.4%) followed by GMC at 397,986 (+18.8%), Buick at 177,633 (+14.3%) and Cadillac at 152,389 (+3.7%).

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Lexus Shows Off LF-LC Sports Coupe in New Photos

Lexus' most recent creation, the LF-LC Sports Coupe Concept, is set to debut in less than a week from now at the 2012 North American International Auto Show in Detroit, but that hasn't stopped the Japanese company from dropping a couple more fresh pictures for our viewing pleasure.

Toyota's luxury division still won't say what's hiding under the LF-LC's long hood, though we do know for a fact that it's a hybrid powertrain.

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Why You Shouldn't Put a Lexus to do a 4x4's Job

The Lexus RX is a competent crossover on the road but it's not the kind of vehicle that will excite you with its off-road capabilities nor will it get you out of trouble when nature gets tough. Then again, it wasn't designed as a thoroughbred 4x4.

A group of men, possibly from Russia or one of the surrounding countries of the former Soviet Union, found that the hard way when what appears to be a Lexus GX was stuck in the mud and an RX came in to help.

See what happens next in the video that follows right after the jump.

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