2024 Lexus LBX revealed: Baby luxury SUV under consideration for Australia

The 2024 Lexus LBX – a hybrid light SUV based on the Toyota Yaris Cross – has debuted in Europe.

While it is unconfirmed for our market, Lexus Australia said the LBX would be assessed to determine its suitability, with a final decision to “be made at a later stage”.

If it arrives in Australia, the LBX – meaning ‘Lexus Breakthrough Crossover’ – will serve as Lexus’s entry-level model, slotting below the UX small SUV and acting as a spiritual successor to the CT hatch axed in 2021, with a circa-$40,000 starting price likely.

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The most-affordable Lexus currently available in Australia is the non-hybrid UX 200 at $46,085 before on-road costs.

Lexus claims the LBX is based on a “modified version” of the GA-B architecture found underneath the Toyota Yaris hatch and Yaris Cross light SUV, with a lower centre of gravity, wider tracks, shorter overhangs, and more body rigidity.

Measuring 4190mm long, 1825mm wide and 1545mm tall, the LBX is 305mm shorter and 15mm narrower, but 25mm taller, than the one-size-up UX. It rides on a 2580mm wheelbase, with 60mm less between the front and rear axle than the UX.

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It follows Lexus’s latest design language, with the brand’s spindle grille design, slim LED headlights, 17- or 18-inch alloy wheels, a black-painted roof, and a full-width light strip connecting the L-shaped tail-lights.

Under the bonnet, the hybrid-only LBX is powered by a 1.5-litre three-cylinder petrol engine borrowed from the Yaris range, but with a more powerful electric motor motivated by a “low resistance” nickel-metal hydride battery.

It has a 100kW and 185Nm total system output, with a claimed 0-100km/h sprint time of 9.2 seconds.

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The hybrid system’s all-electric drive mode is said to be available “at higher speeds and over longer distances”. Lexus has yet to announce a WLTP-rated EV-only driving range.

As standard, the LBX is front-wheel drive with torsion-beam rear suspension, with the available all-wheel drive adding independent double-wishbone rear suspension and a second electric motor powering the rear axle. It has a tight 10.4-metre turning radius.

All-wheel-drive variants feature Lexus’s four-wheel ‘drive force control’ system to automatically adjust acceleration and deceleration in certain driving conditions, such as when travelling uphill or downhill, or when cornering on twisty roads.

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Inside, the LBX has the brand’s ‘Tazuna’ design theme from the latest NX, RX and LX, with standard electronically latching doors and a shift-by-wire gear selector.

It debuts Lexus’s largest-ever all-digital instrument cluster, measuring 12.3 inches in diameter, and a new portrait-orientated 9.8-inch ‘Link Connect’ infotainment system.

It supports wireless or wired Apple CarPlay, wired Android Auto, an optional digital key supporting Apple and Android smartphones, and over-the-air software updates.

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A 13-speaker Mark Levinson surround-sound audio system is available, with the subwoofer “integrated in the back door [to avoid] any loss of space in the load compartment”.

Luggage capacity is rated at up to 332 litres for front-drive variants with the second-row in place.

Other available features include; a head-up display, remote parking functionality, an electric tailgate, and a Panasonic-supplied air purification system.

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The LBX features the brand’s latest active safety suite, with autonomous emergency braking with junction-turning and reversing detection, adaptive cruise control, lane-keep assist, lane departure warning, traffic sign recognition, safe exit assist, driver attention monitoring, and blind-spot and rear cross-traffic alerts.

Front cross-traffic alert and a 360-degree camera system are available on flagship variants.

Lexus said it has taken technology from its flagship LS limousine and LC coupe, with washer fluid distributed from the wiper arm – but other vehicles, such as the Mazda 3 and CX-30, also offer this.

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Perhaps more important is the new ‘Lexus Bespoke Build’ program, which allows buyers to option “tailor-made details”, including unique seatbelts and aniline leather upholstery previously limited to the LS.

The 2024 Lexus LBX light SUV will commence production later this year, with sales to begin in early 2024.

Lexus Australia said it “continues to assess models that may be suitable for the needs of local customers, with the LBX no exception. A decision on LBX will be made at a later stage.”