When Toyota launched a luxury brand most of us had a quiet laugh. Any Italian – and quite a few Brits, eh Jaguar? – will tell you it takes more than just building superbly engineered, class-beatingly refined, smoothly powered, ergonomically perfect… hang on a minute. This is going to work, isn’t it?
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CT 200h
£22,740 - £29,890
A hybrid alternative to the Audi A3, the Lexus offers pure electric running. Shame that chassis is spine-crackingly hard. And not that involving.
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GS
£32,995 - £50,995
The new Lexus GS is a standout car and now closer than ever to the class leaders - making the lack of a diesel absolutely puzzling.
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IS
£26,226 - £41,886
The genius of this 3-Series rival is the use of rear-wheel drive. It's not only a proper BMW-botherer, it's got a chassis that makes a Mondeo feel like a Suzuki Jimny.
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IS F
The words 'mad' and 'Lexus' usually sit together as comfortably as 'Kilroy-Silk' and 'tolerant world view'. The IS-F changes all that.
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LS 600h
£89,265 - £98,715
Five-litre V8, four-wheel-drive, 155mph, huge. Easy target. Hang on, though, it’s a hybrid. With an electric motor. Both black AND white? How to baffle the Daily Mail.
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RX
£33,409 - £43,794
The original hybrid SUV remains strikingly economical and is now more striking to look at. Refined.
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