Lexus Australia lobbying for more F performance models

Lexus Australia is pushing for more models wearing the Japanese brand’s high-performance F badge, with an emphasis on sedans and SUVs.

The BMW M3-rivalling IS F released in late 2007 continues to be the only model Lexus has given the F performance badge, which is derived from the Fuji Speedway circuit in Japan.

An F version of the new RC coupe is on its way, though otherwise no other high-performance vehicles have been confirmed â€" even a replacement for the IS F that remains based on the previous-generation IS.

The sportiest versions of Lexus’s regular model line-ups â€" the F Sport trim grade â€" account for an impressive 35 per cent of all sales in Australia.

Lexus Australia boss Sean Hanley told CarAdvice at the international launch of the company’s smallest SUV yet, the NX, that it was keen to capitalise on this, and that it had been getting customer enquiries for F versions of the company’s SUVs.

“You have F Sport and you F and they’re quite different,” he said. “We of course have the IS F, which was a spectacular success [for the brand]…

“We haven’t confirmed any F expansion beyond RC F yet but what I will say is this: F the brand is very important to us.

“[In terms of] what can we influence with Lexus International, well we’re lobbying for more F variants. 

“SUVs would be something we’d be keen to look at, and sedans â€" and certainly in that space we’re lobbying hard.”

A Lexus GS F model has been rumoured some time, with a decision on that as well as a performance SUV such as an NX F would be made by Lexus International.

Lexus International is based in California and was formed in 2012 to assume responsibility for global vehicles.

The Lexus RC F is set to go on sale in Australia in the first quarter of 2015, sitting as a flagship above an RC350 model.