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Lexus launches its new executive-sized GS saloon this July with large hybrid and petrol-only versions, but the big news is a new low-displacement hybrid due in 12 months that the brand hopes will catapult the model from fleet niche to executive fleet player.
Benchmarking BMW's 520d diesel models, Lexus's small hybrid for the fourth-generation GS will need to offer circa 60mpg and a sub-120g/km CO2 rating for about £30k to compete against both the regular 520d's 125g/km figure and the Efficient Dynamics version's 119g/km.
But even by the small GS hybrid's mid-2013 on-sale date such figures will still equate to a very competitive 15% BIK band, due to its petrol/electric status avoiding the 3% diesel penalty. Lexus also points to independent research suggesting a fifth of premium buyers will consider a hybrid as a credible alternative to diesel for their next car.
Lexus wouldn't reveal exact figures for the small hybrid yet, but a spokesman told BusinessCar: "We will match or better the 520d on mpg and CO2 with a bit of a premium on price".
GS chief engineer Yoshihiko Kanamori also confirmed this hybrid will be mated to a V6 rather than a four-cylinder petrol engine to ensure the smoothness of operation demanded by executive drivers.
Meanwhile, the G450h hybrid petrol model - offering 46.3mpg and 141g/km CO2 for a current 19% BIK rating - will mop up 40% of the predicted 1000 GS sales for the second half of 2012, of which 60% will go to fleet.
The biggest seller initially will be the petrol-only 209hp 2.5-litre GS250, starting at £32,995 and resurrected after the mk3 model went hybrid only, as Lexus GB MD Jon Williams conceded: "We have 7000 loyal GS owners waiting for a petrol model so that's why we're bringing it back, although they will be mainly retail".
With the help of the small hybrid, Lexus hopes to nudge UK GS registrations to 1475 in 2013 and up to 2500 by 2014, which would be an all-time UK record for the GS and reflect a likely switch in focus from the current 69% retail bias to a mix where fleet dominates as the lower-CO2 model beds in.
To make things easier, Lexus is also ditching almost all of its vague old trim range. SE stays as the entry-level model, but SE-I becomes Luxury, SE-L turns into F Sport and SE-L Premier transforms into the simpler Premier.
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