New-gen Lexus NX breaks cover; debuts plug-in hybrid

-         Carries an evolutionary styling

-         New plug-in hybrid to be sold alongside the standard hybrid

A couple of teasers and a leak later, Lexus has dropped the veil from the new-generation NX. Take a casual look and the second generation of this Japanese crossover won’t look any different compared to the model it replaces. But the India-bound 2022 NX is all-new underneath the skin and also marks the debut of Lexus’ plug-in hybrid powertrains in the crossover.

It takes a closer look to see the changes on the slightly sharper headlamps while the entire shape of the Lexus’ characteristically large grille remains unchanged. It’s not a bad thing in our opinion since the outgoing NX had a timeless design that aged like fine wine. So, Lexus took the 'if it ain't broke, don't fix it' approach and made very few subtle changes to the exterior.

This includes the sleek LED lightbar joining the wraparound taillamps.Of course, the F-Sport trim gets some aggressive-looking bits to make it stand out furthermore. Dimension wise, the 2022 NX is 20mm wider and longer than the first-gen model and sits 5mm taller with the wheelbase growing by 30mm.

It’s the inside of the new NX that’s taken a leap over the predecessor. Taking cues from Tazuna Concept last seen on the LF-Z concept car, the driver-focused cockpit has an all-digital seven-inch MID screen conjoined to the free-standing 14-inch touchscreen centre display. Also debuting is a large 10-inch heads-up display that is controllable by buttons on the redesigned steering wheel. Gone is the old mouse-like touchpad of the previous-gen model and the centre console is now minimalistic with a small gearlever (because shift-by-wire) and fewer physical buttons. 

Being a Lexus there are many ways to customise the cabin with choices of the wooden panel, different colours for leather upholstery and different ornamental decorations seen all around. What’s more, there are 64 colours for ambient lighting with 14 presets depending on selectable mood settings, and 50 colour palette for centre display alone. And as expected, there’s a full gamut of active and passive safety features in a typical Lexus tradition.

We know that the new-gen NX moves to Toyota’s TNGA-based GA-K platform. So there are significant changes under the skin including better strength and stiffness, reworked suspension, and compatibility to newer powertrain options along with an AWD system. It also helps in liberating more cabin space compared to the previous-gen NX.

In terms of powertrain – there are seven. It uses a 2.5-litre four-cylinder petrol engine with various combinations and an eight-speed automatic transmission is offered on most of the models across the range. The range-topper NX450h has the same engine but the exact specifications remains under wraps.There’s also a 2.4-litre turbo-petrol in the NX350 making around 275bhp/430Nm and it gets an AWD but there’s no hybrid guise for this engine.   

Production of the new-gen Lexus NX is set to commence later this year. So we could expect international deliveries in 2022 when it’s also likely to make its way to India promptly.