All-new Toyota Prado-based luxury SUV could debut within days and Lexus Australia is keen
Just a day after the new Lexus TX was teased and unofficially ruled out for Australia, two teaser images of the 2024 Lexus GX have been released by the premium Japanese brand, including its local division, making it almost certain the all-new Toyota Prado-based luxury off-road SUV will indeed be sold in Australia.
Previewing a macho new exterior for the third generation of the Lexus GX, which has never been sold here, the first image shows a tri-beam split headlight cluster wedged underneath a clamshell bonnet, between a black grille and not-so-subtly flared front wheel-arch, suggesting the new GX – along with the upcoming fifth-generation Prado on which it’s based – will take on a more hardcore persona than its predecessor.
Other notable features are the raised bonnet elements we’ve become used to seeing on Toyota’s off-road SUVs and black cladding around the lower edge of the flared wheel-arch, hinting at its rugged disposition.
The other image is an extreme close-up of the rear tailgate and block capital ‘LEXUS’ badging sitting atop a red trim element or rear lighting strip, which almost undoubtedly links the tail-light clusters as per the bigger LandCruiser 300 Series-based Lexus LX.
Evidence of a local release for the new GX, which is likely to be one of three new Lexus models to arrive Down Under by the end of 2024, comes from Lexus Australia’s press release wording, which refers to the new GX as “highly anticipated” and encourages Aussies to “stay tuned for more information”.
Lexus Australia has traditionally only circulated promotional material associated with models intended for our market, and the GX has been on the cards for years now – ever since a trademark for the ‘Lexus GX550’ nameplate was filed with IP Australia in late 2021.
A similar strategy was employed in the lead-up to the reveal of the opulent Lexus LM people-mover and Lexus USA’s recent TX teaser was not circulated by Lexus Australia.
The new GX would fit into Lexus Australia’s growing SUV line-up between the newly launched RX, which won’t be produced in seven-seat RX L guise this time round, and the full-size heavy-duty LX, giving Toyota’s luxury brand a second three-row off-road SUV in Australia for the first time.
Currently powered in the US by a petrol V8, the Lexus GX was first launched in 2002 and until now has been primarily a North American model produced only in left-hand drive.
There’s been a lot of conjecture around the next Lexus GX’s powertrains, with overseas reports claiming there will be a detuned version of the Lexus LX’s twin-turbo 3.5-litre petrol V6 and the new RX’s 2.4-litre turbo-petrol/electric hybrid system at the very least.
We’re yet to see any indication of a hybrid nameplate by way of trademarks, but the consensus is the GX550 will be the core petrol powertrain in a similar fashion to the bigger LX 600, which is sold alongside the diesel LX 500d for similar money.
Hybrid power has also been mooted for the new Prado range as an upmarket alternative to the almost inevitable diesel donk but, like the GX, there are numerous theories as to what form this volume-selling oil-burner will take.
Educated guesses range from an enhanced version of the Prado’s current 2.8-litre and a detuned or single-turbo version of the LandCruiser’s 3.3-litre diesel V6, through to a unique diesel-electric hybrid system built around the 2.8.
Whatever ends up being the case, we shouldn’t have to wait too much longer to find out, given both the new Prado and GX are both expected to be revealed globally by the end of the year, with the countdown officially starting for the latter today.
The Lexus LM made its public debut less than a week after the Japanese brand shared a shadowy teaser image of the opulent MPV and 17 months on from filing a pair of variant nameplates with IP Australia.
If history repeats, the new GX could be revealed within a matter of days, if not weeks.
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Keyword: 2024 Lexus GX officially teased and likely for Oz