It was about time. One year after the PERFORMANCEHYBRID has been introduced, the new Lexus RX has been confirmed for release in July. Completely new luxury Sport Utility Vehicles, the most imporant changes are at the :

• RX350 – runs on a 3,5-litre petrol V6 engine that outputs some 273 hp (204kW) and 346Nm of torque; available in SX and XE specification levels
• RX450h – runs on a 3,5-litre petrol V6 engine but also adds two electric motors for a total output of 295 hp (220kW)
• PERFORMANCEHYBRID -  full hybrid technology on V8 engines

The RX400h was very well accepted by customers, accounting for 37% of RX sales despite our production allocation being heavily restricted,” says Kevin Flynn, General Manager of Lexus SA. “We expect the market share of hybrid to increase substantially with the new generation RX as the market continues to adopt the technology and begins to understand the benefits of petrol electric hybrid better.”

Competition for BMW X5 and Mercedes M-Classe, that’s all good news. Right guys?

This year’s Los Anageles Auto Show has some goodies on the table. For example the new 2010 Lexus RX 450h and RX 350 which have been unveiled today. Lexus RX 350 is a 3.5-liter V6 gas engine that sports 275hp, has a sequential 6-speed ‘box in both FWD and AWD (which uses an Active Torque Control AWD system that optimizes torque for all driving conditions). The other one – Lexus RX 450h – is a hybrid (hence the “h”) that features a 3.5-liter V6 gas engine and runs on the Atkinson cycle to generate 295hp. It also uses an exhaust-heat recovery system to reduce the time the engine has to warm-up, and also features an exhaust-gas recirculation setup. You’ll get more details about these two on WCF.