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By Jonathan Crouch

Ten Second Review word count: 48

Lexus always needed a breakthrough model to attract new generation of younger customers. Here it is, the LBX. Surprisingly, it's not an EV. That's because it's based on Toyota's Yaris Cross, which uses a full-Hybrid drivetrain. But Lexus has re-imagined that design in a far more premium manner.

Background word count: 205

So. The Lexus LBX. Is it merely a Toyota Yaris Cross with a premium badge? Or the properly Lexus-engineered small entry-level model the company has always needed? Perhaps it doesn't matter. This car, a self-charging full-Hybrid designed in Europe for Europe, is the model that will really push its brand forward. In the past, we've always rather respected Lexus for not simply re-badging a small Toyota and creating a big-selling entry model that would rack up sales but diminish its brand. The closest the company came to that was with the Prius-based CT200h hatch, sold between 2011 and 2020, but that was still very much its own car, fundamentally re-engineered for 'Lexus-ness'. Which is pretty much what we have here with the LBX. Yes, all the basic engineering is borrowed from the Yaris Cross, but much has also been re-engineered so that this car feels like a Lexus. And those letters? Some at the brand say they stand for 'Lexus Breakthrough Crossover'; others that the 'L' is for Lexus, the 'B' for the B-SUV segment that this car competes in and the 'X' again references crossover status. Call it what you like though: it's the most important car the company has launched for a decade.

Driving Experience word count: 313

The LBX isn't quite the re-badged Toyota Yaris Cross we'd feared we might get here. Yes, this car shares that model's compact GA-B platform (the first Lexus to use it) and the same basic 1.5-litre Hybrid engine, but quite a bit's been done to give this model what the brand calls the 'Lexus Driving Signature'. There's a much wider track for sharper handling, the light steering gets its own bespoke tune, the front suspension has a more rigid and lightweight MacPherson strut-type design, the CVT auto gearbox has been re-worked to deliver a more linear feel and a 'Vehicle Posture Control' system has been added that automatically uses the brakes to reduce pitching through turns. Pleasingly for a Lexus, lots of effort has also been put into refinement and the overall result is a level of journeying quietness that's probably class-leading, another thing that might encourage you to attempt longer journeys in an LBX than you ordinarily might in this class of car. We mentioned the engine. It's as frugal as you'd expect a Toyota Hybrid to be but this VVT-iE unit isn't quite the same as the one you'll find in the comparable Yaris Cross, gaining a new Hybrid Control System. This harnesses 134bhp (4bhp more than the fastest version of the equivalent Yaris Cross) courtesy of a more powerful motor driven by a new high-output nickel-metal hydride bi-polar battery shared with the larger Lexus RX and sited beneath the rear bench. The brand claims that this set-up gives sparkier performance than the equivalent Toyota, though the stats don't really show that, 62mph being dispatched here in 9.2s en route to the car's modest 106mph maximum. That's for the front-driven model we're trying here. With top spec, Lexus is also offering a minority-interest E-Four AWD version which gets an extra motor on the rear axle and needs 9.6s for the benchmark sprint.