Toyota’s boss told the Lexus design team to stop using the massive ‘spindle’ grille

At the recent Tokyo Mobility Show, Lexus went concept car kerazy. There was the six-wheeled LS van. The Micro LS one-seater pod. The LS Coupe, which wasn’t actually a coupe. And the self-sailing catamaran yacht. And the Sport Concept supercar.

Seriously, the Lexus design studio must’ve been busier than Oxford Circus on the last shopping day before Christmas.

Photography: Toby Thyer/manufacturer

But something was missing from all of these creations. The Lexus trademark. Since it was first applied to 2011’s LF-Gh concept car, and the 2012 GS saloon, the angular ‘spindle’ grille has been one-upping Audi for sheer mesh bragging rights on the front of all Lexuses. Lexuseses. Lexii?

But none of the new concepts have the giganto-gob which is inspired by Toyota’s history of weaving, loom-making and textile manufacturing. Instead they kinda reference its outline with LED strips. And there’s a very good reason for that. The big boss told the design team to ‘step away from the spindle’.

Speaking at the Tokyo Mobility Show, Lexus Design’s GM Koichi Suga told TopGear.com: “When we started the spindle grille we put it on every car. Then the chairman Akio Toyoda enquired ‘why are you doing the same design every time?’ Seriously!

“He told me ‘you should break the spindle’. So then we designed the LBX and gradually started to evolve the expression of the spindle. Since then we’ve tried to input the icon, but with a different execution. So this [leads us to] the new design, the new proposal.”

Asked if Lexus would move away to a more streamlined design because EVs don’t require as much cooling (and ideally shun aerodynamic drag to aid range) Suga-san replied: “People are missing something in the ‘face’.

“Of course, we created the RZ which is an electric vehicle with the grille, but people are missing something [with] more detail, so we have to find another new solution. That is what we are designing.”

Is Lexus right to leave behind its ultra-aggressive and intricate grille for something more friendly-looking?