Just last week, Tokuichi Uranishi, a Toyota executive vice president, told German car magazine Auto Motor und Sport, that Lexus is interested in developing a compact hatch. “We can foresee a competitor to the BMW 1-Series” said Uranishi. This year, Lexus expects to sell around 55,000 units in Europe but its targeting annual sales of 150,000 units by 2015 and the addition of a lower priced (than the IS) entry-model would definitely help Lexus achieve that goal. We’re not sure if this rendering of the so-called BS series that we discovered in the net has anything to do with reality, but we can tell you that if Lexus goes ahead and introduces the compact hatch, it'll most likely be based on the IS platform and mechanics (front-engine, rear-wheel drive layout). -Continued after the jump
Of course, since the hatch will be aimed towards the European market, we should expect 4-cylinder petrol and diesel engine variants added to the range. In addition, a hybrid version shouldn’t be out of the question, as Toyota Europe needs to sell more frugal and low-emission cars to deal the EU’s stricter rules.
