Lexus has been testing an all-electric luxury car for the Indian customers and probably launch it soon as it competition such as Audi, BMW and Mercedes-Benz are getting aggressive in the EV segment here. This was told exclusively to Livemint by the Lexus’s India President, Naveen Soni. On March 9, the Toyota-owned luxury car brand launched its new hybrid car, NX 350h, in India. Till now, Lexus only has hybrid and ICE cars in India under SUV, Sedan and Coupe form factors.
The Japanese automaker is shifting its focus towards BEV and by 2030 it aims to have a sizeable proportions of electric cars in its portfolio that also includes for the Indian market as well.
The 2022 NX 350h has been upgraded and introduced again to the Indian buyers with more advanced features and technical superiority over its previous models.
Lexus NX 350h has the waiting period of nearly six months yet the company did not disclose the number of bookings it has received till now. “The response for NX 350h has been amazing and exceeded our expectations,” said Naveen.
On the semiconductor shortages, he said that the worst is already over and now we could see the productions level going up in the second half of 2022.
The Lexus NX 350h was launched in three variants; Exquisite, Exclusive, and F-Sport. With a starting price of ₹64.90 lakh (ex-showroom), the higher variant costs ₹71.60 lakh (ex-showroom). Although, the company had started its bookings in January this year, the buyers have to wait for at least six months to get a hold of 2022 Lexus NX 350h. The first model of Lexus NX was unveiled in 2018 in India.
The 2022 Lexus NX 350h comes with a 2.5-litre, 4-cylinder engine coupled with a 259-volt lithium-ion battery, that together churns out 236 bhp power.
Lexus is also focusing to expand its presence on ground with new stores coming up in various cities across the country. Naveen also mentioned that the crude price going up might impact the costs of the raw materials and thus the input costs but did not see an immediate price hike across its car range in India.
