‘07 Lexus RX330 – Most Popular Luxury Sport Utility Vehicle
Wednesday, October 4th, 2006
The ‘07 RX 350 is now arriving at Lexus dealerships and it will replace the 2006 RX 330. It comes with a new 3.5-liter V-6 engine that boosts horsepower to 270 from the 225 horsepower of the previous version, which was known as the RX 330. The brand new numerical designation is a reflection of the increased engine displacement; the RX 330 came with a 3.3-liter engine. Dealers say that even though they rarely had any complaints about the power of the previous model, customers are more then willing to try the extra power of the RX 350.
Lexus says that the engine allows the RX to accelerate from zero to 60 mpg in just 7.3 seconds (7.4 seconds with all-wheel drive). But even with the increase in power, Lexus was still able to increase fuel economy slightly over the 2006 model, said Bob Carter, Toyota’s Lexus Group vice president and general manager. “Our engineers were able to accomplish this through a new application of variable valve timing to both intake and exhaust valves,” he said. EPA fuel-economy ratings for the RX 350 with front-wheel drive are 20 miles per gallon in the city and 25 mpg on the highway, compared with 19 city/25 highway for the 2006 RX 330. With all-wheel drive, the ratings for the new model are 19 city/24 highway, up from 18/24 for 2006. And even with the big boost in power, the new model has the same ultra-low-emissions certification as the previous model, the automaker said. Raising power without lowering fuel economy is a goal in today’s market with widely fluctuating fuel prices, and despite increased fuel costs, Lexus was still able to sell more than 109,000 RX models during 2005, Carter said.
“We’re expecting to have equal amount of sales for 2006,” he said. “The RX is one of our franchise cars, along with the EX sedan, and it’s one of the most popular luxury SUV on the market. In 2005, RX sales accounted for 26 percent of the segment.” As the most current RX design begins its fourth year, Carter said, Lexus felt that an increase in power was important to help keep the RX in its high position. “Our feedback showed that the RX 330 was doing well, but customers were looking for a little more power and performance,” he said.
Besides the increase in power, the ‘07 RX comes with many other enhancements, some of which include a new limited-slip differential for the all-wheel-drive version, along with the new Lexus Generation 5 navigation system, which comes with “more data points and a higher screen resolution,” Carter said. “It’s just a crisper display for the navigation and the backup camera system,” he said. Rear-wheel-drive versions of the RX 350 start at $37,400 (plus freight), while all-wheel-drive models start at $38,800. For each car, that’s an increase of $1,030 over the price of the 2006 model.
Most of the RX sales in Texas are of front-drive models. Popular options that can help raise those prices include the navigation system and other items such as upgraded audio systems and special wheels. The small base-price increase has prompted some customers to hold off on buying a 2006 model and to wait for a 2007, dealers say. “When someone can buy an early new model like the RX 350 for nearly the same price as the previous version, and get a big increase in power at the same time, they usually will wait and do that,” one Texas dealer reported.
Don’t expect rocket-sale prices on the leftover models, though. Customers liked the old model just fine, and dealers expect the new one to sell just as well, if not better. The RX and ES are still the best-selling Lexus models in Texas, dealers say, and customers really appreciate the comfortable ride of the RX. Because it is a car-based SUV, on the same framework as the ES sedan, it offers the best of both worlds – the utility of an SUV, but the comfort of a luxury car. It’s nothing like the traditional SUV, which has a separate body mounted on a truck frame.
Lexus won’t be in a hurry to redesign the RX because it still is “quite competitive in its segment,” Carter said. And a major redesign would also have to be made first on the hybrid version, the RX 400h, which was introduced last year. The hybrid version is the priciest of the RX models, beginning at $44,660 for a front-drive model and $46,060 for the all-wheel-drive version. The front-drive hybrid model was introduced in November, and at that time, Lexus dropped the base price of the all-wheel-drive model by $2,350 for model year 2007. The RX hybrid comes with a combination of gasoline engine and electric motor that is able to generate 268 horsepower, yet is able to achieve EPA fuel-economy ratings of 28 miles per gallon in the city and 33 mpg on the highway (with front-wheel drive). The hybrid’s overall power isequal to or more than that of some V-8 powered SUVs in the same class, but with significantly better fuel economy. The hybrid also has lower fuel emissions – “about 80 percent cleaner than most other vehicles on the road,” Carter said.
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