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Lexus CT 200h: Supercharged CT 200h at New York

Fox Marketing prepares a supercharged Lexus CT 200h for the New York Motor Show We’ve constantly bemoaned that Lexus are so obsessed with hybrids that they’ve forgotten there’s a world of people who want more from a car than a mere transport appliance. Which is rather sad. More than the rest of the range, we’ve complained that the Lexus CT 200h is lumbered with the 1.8 litre Atkinson cycle hybrid from the Prius as its only powertrain option.

Lexus LF-LC Coupe heading for production

It looks like the impressive Lexus LF-LC Concept is heading for production as Lexus tries to inject some sportiness in to their brand. The stunning Lexus LF-LC Concept we saw at the Detroit Motor Show in January was certainly the most impressive Lexus concept for some time, although Lexus made it clear it was just a showcase of what their US designers were capable of envisaging. But we thought at the time that the LF-LC had potential as a proper halo coupe for Lexus (ignoring the stand-alone, madly priced LFA) that could be brought to market as an LS Coupe – the Lexus LC, perhaps?

Gorden Wagener on how Mercedes is "moving from a traditional luxury brand to a modern luxury brand"

Mercedes' 'home' design studio in Sindelfingen, Germany is housed in an expansive 30,000-square meter building designed by Renzo Piano. The lobby is unassuming, but we're soon through into what Mercedes' grandly calls 'the Vision Room.' It's here that strategic meetings are held with the firm's board, and where we meet Gorden Wagener, Mercedes' head of design since 2008. It's in the Vision Room that Wagener convinced the Mercedes board of the merits of his overarching design philosophy: 'sensual purity'.