Lexus Admitted to a Huge Design Mistake
Lexus is redesigning its polarizing signature spindle grilles to appeal to a wider array of customers. Is this a smart move?
Written by Allison Stone
Reviewed by Kathleen Flear
Luxury brand
Lexus
made a name for itself by producing cars that were as stylish as they were powerful, but not every design element has gone over well with consumers. Up until about ten years ago, however, Lexus tended to play it safe when it came to its car's exteriors. In an effort to dispel accusations that the brand was “boring” or “conservative”, Toyota began to introduce enlarged spindle grilles across its fleet.
While Lexus didn’t pioneer the spindle grille, it was one of the first brands to popularize the modern enlarged front grille. This design element has proved to be quite polarizing among potential buyers. Lexus global design chief Koichi Suga even acknowledged this when speaking with
Automotive News
about US market trends. In Lieu of ditching the spindle grille going forward, Lexus has vowed to instead elevate the design into something new.
How Lexus started this design
The first Lexus production model to ever sport this polarizing design element was the
Lexus CT
. The hybrid electric hatchback was launched as an upscale answer to the Toyota Prius and was built off the same drivetrain configuration. It was also the first-ever luxury compact and hatchback hybrid. Later vehicles, like the previous-gen Lexus RX, sported an even sharper version of the design. When compared to earlier Lexus models like the 1989 LS400, the enlarged, angular grille that became a signature for Lexus does stand out as a far cry from the brand’s roots.
This isn’t the first time the issue has come up, either. A 2018 article from
Jalopnik
reported on an interview with Lexus group VP and General Manager Jeff Bracken and what he had to say on the controversial grille at the time. “The folks that look at it as somewhat polarizing would be, for the most part, the folks that have been with us since the beginning,” said Bracken. Let Jerry find your price in only 45 seconds
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A new look for Lexus?
In spite of many people comparing the current spindle grille design to the likes of Darth Vader, Suga isn’t interested in returning to the more conventional look of earlier Lexus models. Instead, he thinks that the new execution will be informed by past feedback. “We need the right balance,” Suga said.
According to Suga, it seems that updating the grille design is less about appeasing long-time buyers and more about bringing Lexus into the future, particularly when it comes to
electric cars
. The RX electric car and new RX large SUV have adopted a ‘spindle body’ design which blends the grille and the body of the car more seamlessly. "We want to maintain the spindle shape itself. But the spindle has always been based on functionality of what's happening under the hood," Suga told Automotive News.
Because electric cars don’t contain combustion engines, they actually don’t need grilles at all. EV designers, particularly for legacy brands, are looking for ways to incorporate this familiar design element without losing out on much-needed aerodynamics. The Lexus RX instead sports an inlet on the bottom and black bodywork that pays homage to the shape of the spindle grille.
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