Lexus does not have plans to produce plug-in hybrid technology at all. In an interview with AutoExpress at the Frankfurt Motor Show, Alain Uyttenhoven, the head of Lexus in Europe, stated that the Japanese manufacturer will drop the plug-in hybrids for Toyota, because he sees it as more of a stop-gap than an actual solution to a challenge. Lexus plans to focus on developing fuel cells and fully electric vehicles instead.
Part of his reasons has to do with Europe ratcheting up its emissions standards. When that happens, the hybrids Lexus already sells probably won’t be sufficiently clean enough.
Soon we will have to reach 75g/km. At that time pure hybrids will not be sufficient. The two things we can do are introduce plug-in or introduce electric. But Lexus would rather develop the latter. We do not need to have plug-in hybrid vehicles. It’s a loophole in the market. We will reach the [carbon dioxide] targets without them, Uyttenhoven stated.
This might probably mean offering electric and fuel cell versions of its most expensive products while efforts are being made to bring down the cost of the electric technology.
In Europe, the more successful electric car sales are at the high end. But in the premium market, 50 percent of cars are sold below €40,000 ($47,000). If it’s more than that, how will people afford it? Uyttenhoven added.
So, this means expecting a plug-in CT200h, will probably never happen. But an electric successor to the LC500? That might be an actual possibility.
Source; MotorTrend