The new compact is part of Lexus’ battle plan to reach an internal goal of 150,000 sales in Europe by 2015. Tadashi Arashima, managing director of Lexus’ European division, has confirmed the development of the new compact and how it is working on meeting Europe’s stringent CO2 emissions regulations.
The new car will probably be an entry-level premium hatchback; Lexus hopes to raise its market share above the measly 1 percent it currently commands in Europe with this new compact.
As you can probably guess, the subcompact is Euro-only; This is probably wise of Lexus, which can them avoid competing with its own IS250 in the United States. Personally, though, we see that changing in 5-10 years as the MINI Cooper and incoming subcompacts like the BMW 1-Series continue to rack in the green for their manufacturers.
via Motor Authority