26229Aside from bemoaning how the Lexus IS morphed from unique, sporty, inline six-powered styling innovator that begat Altezza taillights and chronograph-style instrumentation into an elegant and still sporty but larger and heavier, less creatively-styled and more mass market-appealing sedan, a number of you seriously miss the option of an update on the <A HREF="http://my.is/forums/f42/lexus-is300-sportcross-unintentional-exotic-404631/">rarer-than-a-Bentley</A> IS300 SportCross hatchback-cum-wagon. <A HREF="http://www.autocar.co.uk/News/NewsArticle/AllCars/248136/">A brief write-up from the United Kingdom's Autocar magazine</A>, however, informs us that "Lexus is likely to introduce an estate variant on the next generation of its Lexus IS...while the original model did offer an estate variant, called SportCross, the current car - introduced in 2005 - has never been available in a wagon. Lexus insiders now admit that this policy has hurt sales of the car in Europe, where it must face the 3-series Touring and A4 Avant." That didn't stop <A HREF="http://forum.autovisie.nl/viewtopic.php?t=1554">a creative Dutch artist by the name of Theo</A> from imagining what one would look like, though, and his design is featured at the top of our story.
This author is not particularly surprised by this rumor, since, back in <A HREF="http://my.is/forums/f41/lexus-c-premium-upmarket-small-car-gets-name-ct-200h-394367/">July 2009</A> we wrote that "going out on a limb here, don't be too surprised if the 3rd-generation Lexus IS sees an IS T spiritual successor to the SportCross in addition to IS sedan and IS C (hopefully this time as fixed-roof coupe as well as convertible) variants."
The remainder of the Autocar article needs to be taken with a grain (or two) of salt, however. Talk of making the 3rd-generation Lexus IS hybrid-only is highly unlikely and, if it comes to pass, would be, at most, a Europe-only thing, given that the UK already offers only the hybrid versions of the RX, GS and LS lines. Sure, we can expect a hybrid ISh 3rd-gen variant in North America and in most major markets, but don't expect the IS to morph into a hybrid-only line à la HS and CT.
Also iffy is their claim that "a third edition is due in 2011" as a 2012 model year intro. While this would follow recent Lexus 6-year cycles between major changes, <A HREF="http://my.is/forums/f41/automotive-news-future-predictions-lexus-models-2009-edition-397186/">other published reports</A> claim that the 2nd-generation Lexus IS sedan will be on a 7-year cycle. This would certainly help manage the unwieldly 3½+ calendar year (and 4 model year) interval between the launch of the current IS sedan and that of its IS C retractable-hardtop convertible counterpart. Also, the new year has brought unexpected second front end, taillight and interior freshenings/facelifts for the current 3rd-generations of Toyota's Avalon and RAV4. This may well be the pattern that the current Lexus IS follows. In other words, if the 2011 model year sees yet another round of front end, taillight and interior changes to the current IS akin to those of the <A HREF="http://my.is/forums/f41/most-detailed-list-yet-changes-2009-lexus-updated-6-sep-08-a-369932/">2009 model year</A>, then it's safe to say that the 3rd-generation Lexus IS sedan will debut as a 2013 model year intro, with the other body styles following at publicly unknown intervals. If, on the other hand, the 2011 Lexus IS emerges virtually unchanged versus the 2010, then the 6-year cycle is a safe bet. We'll be watching...
This author is not particularly surprised by this rumor, since, back in <A HREF="http://my.is/forums/f41/lexus-c-premium-upmarket-small-car-gets-name-ct-200h-394367/">July 2009</A> we wrote that "going out on a limb here, don't be too surprised if the 3rd-generation Lexus IS sees an IS T spiritual successor to the SportCross in addition to IS sedan and IS C (hopefully this time as fixed-roof coupe as well as convertible) variants."
The remainder of the Autocar article needs to be taken with a grain (or two) of salt, however. Talk of making the 3rd-generation Lexus IS hybrid-only is highly unlikely and, if it comes to pass, would be, at most, a Europe-only thing, given that the UK already offers only the hybrid versions of the RX, GS and LS lines. Sure, we can expect a hybrid ISh 3rd-gen variant in North America and in most major markets, but don't expect the IS to morph into a hybrid-only line à la HS and CT.
Also iffy is their claim that "a third edition is due in 2011" as a 2012 model year intro. While this would follow recent Lexus 6-year cycles between major changes, <A HREF="http://my.is/forums/f41/automotive-news-future-predictions-lexus-models-2009-edition-397186/">other published reports</A> claim that the 2nd-generation Lexus IS sedan will be on a 7-year cycle. This would certainly help manage the unwieldly 3½+ calendar year (and 4 model year) interval between the launch of the current IS sedan and that of its IS C retractable-hardtop convertible counterpart. Also, the new year has brought unexpected second front end, taillight and interior freshenings/facelifts for the current 3rd-generations of Toyota's Avalon and RAV4. This may well be the pattern that the current Lexus IS follows. In other words, if the 2011 model year sees yet another round of front end, taillight and interior changes to the current IS akin to those of the <A HREF="http://my.is/forums/f41/most-detailed-list-yet-changes-2009-lexus-updated-6-sep-08-a-369932/">2009 model year</A>, then it's safe to say that the 3rd-generation Lexus IS sedan will debut as a 2013 model year intro, with the other body styles following at publicly unknown intervals. If, on the other hand, the 2011 Lexus IS emerges virtually unchanged versus the 2010, then the 6-year cycle is a safe bet. We'll be watching...
