► Tiny 2+2 Lexus concept car shown
► Lexus LF-SA ‘ultra-compact’ 3.4m long
► Signals intent to shrink range
A titchy-tiny Lexus LF-SA made a big impression on the Japanese maker’s stand at the 2015 Geneva motor show.
This is a seriously small hatchback: at just 3400mmm long, it’s smaller than a Twingo, yet there are two occasional +2 seats in the back.
The car was designed at Europe’s ED2 styling studio, suggesting that Toyota is seriously considering radical downsizing for our congested continent. An apt move at the Geneva motor show, in a city gripped by auto-industry paralysis each March on the days of the show…
Lexus LF-SA: the lowdown
The company calls this an ‘ultra-compact, sub B-segment’ vehicle. Think of it as a kind of Toyota iQ poshed up for its Lexus duties.
The two models are completely unrelated, however, and the Lexus design language is plain to see. Just don’t ask about the Stellar Silver paint job that some bright spark thought was ‘a reference to space exploration.’
Tellingly, there’s something of the urban SUV about this car’s poise; it’s brutal and sharp-suited, yet still stands as a baby hatchback more than a crossover. It just goes to show how much the boundaries are blurring between segments these days.
Will they build the LF-SA?
Sadly not any time soon. This is preparing the world for smaller Lexus models in future, European management have hinted to CAR, but we’re not expecting a tiny tot like this to appear in dealerships soon.
This is a shame, as it could launch Lexus into a segment currently vacated by premium manufacturers apart from Daimler, whose Smart brand hoovers up the downsizing crowd.
But everyone from Audi to BMW is looking at smaller models as the next big thing. And at 3.4m long, 1.7m wide and 1.4m high, we’re left thinking that Lexus should continue investigating this genuinely manoeuvrable type of city car.