The Lexus RX (Japanese: レクサス・RX, Hepburn: Rekusasu RX) is a luxury crossover SUV sold since 1998 by Lexus, a luxury division of Toyota. Originally released in its home market of Japan in late 1997 as the Toyota Harrier, export sales began in March 1998 as the Lexus RX.[1]
Considered as the first luxury crossover SUV,[2][3] five generations of the RX have been produced to date, the first being compact in size, and the latter classified as mid-size. Both front- and four-wheel drive configurations have been used on the RX series, and several gasoline powertrain options, including V6 engines and hybrid systems, have been offered. In the Lexus model lineup, the RX sits below the larger Lexus LX (marketed as the Toyota Land Cruiser body-on-frame SUVs outside North America, respectively), and above the shorter and less wider, but taller GX SUV. The name "RX" stands for "Radiant Crossover".[4] It has also been labelled as "Recreational Cross Country" in some markets.[5] The RX's current Toyota counterpart is the Highlander/Kluger; past counterparts included the Harrier and Venza.
The first-generation RX 300, fitted with a 3.0-liter V6 engine, began sales in 1998. The Japanese market Harrier released in 1997 also offered a 2.2-liter inline-four, later uprated to 2.4 liters. The second-generation RX 300 (3.0-liter V6) and RX 330 (3.3-liter V6) models went on sale in 2003, with both variants supplanted by the more powerful RX 350 (3.5-liter V6) in 2006. Like the previous series, a 2.4-liter inline-four engine was sold alongside the 3.0-liter V6 in the Japanese market Harrier. In 2005, a hybridized gasoline-electric version of the 3.3-liter second-generation model was made available as the RX 400h in export markets and as the Harrier Hybrid in Japan. For the third generation released in 2009, both RX 350 (3.5-liter V6) and RX 450h (3.5-liter V6 hybrid) models were initially offered, with an entry-level RX 270 (2.7-liter inline-four) offered by Lexus in some Asian markets, including in Japan, since 2010. Since the release of the third generation, Japanese sales have occurred under the RX name as opposed to Harrier as had been the case previously. In the fourth generation, a turbocharged (2.0-liter inline-four) RX 200t/300 model was introduced to replace the previous 2.7-liter unit.
The RX has been assembled at Toyota Motor Kyushu since launch. The RX and RX Hybrid were the first Lexus models to be built outside Japan, with North American market versions produced at the Toyota Motor Manufacturing Canada plant in Cambridge, Ontario beginning 2003 (RX) and expanded in 2014 (RX Hybrid).[6] Hybrid transaxles are built at the Kokura plant in Kitakyushu, Fukuoka since 2009.[7][8]
^Dawson, Chester (2004). Lexus: The Relentless Pursuit. NJ: Jon Wiley & Sons. p. 218. ISBN 0-470-82110-8.
^"Video Review: Lexus Adds a Few Twists to the New RX350". The New York Times. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
^Goodwin, Antuan (16 July 2019). "2020 Lexus RX first drive review: Sharper image". CNET. US. Retrieved 1 February 2022.
^Toyota Motor Corporation. "Lexus RX (RX350)". Retrieved 30 December 2012.
^"Site Map". Australia: Lexus. Archived from the original on 11 April 2014.
^Mahler, Jonathan. The Lexus Story: The Behind the Scenes Story of the #1 Automotive Luxury Brand in America. 2004: DK Melcher Media, NY. ISBN 0-9717935-7-3., p. 182
^Blanco, Sebastian (23 April 2009). "Lexus RX 450h: you can't have pockets in hybrid production area". AutoblogGreen. Retrieved 18 July 2014.
^Cite error: The named reference 75 Years of Toyota, Miyata plant was invoked but never defined (see the help page).
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