The Japanese luxury car builder Lexus->ke47 is looking to get a better handle on the small car market that is currently dominated by the Audi A3->ke1086 hatchback as well as the up and coming BMW 1 Series->ke313 with a small car of their own. The high end arm of Toyota recently released this sketch giving an idea as to what the soon to be concept car will look like, and we could be seeing it as early as this October at the Tokyo Motor Show.

According to Lexus, the automaker would rather get a reaction from the public before they go ahead and start stamping out the sheet metal for the production car. The design certainly is rich with Lexus like lines shaping the headlights and front end, the oversized wheels don't hurt the eye candy factor either.

Despite the Japanese automaker's conviction for rear wheel drive vehicles, iut appears that the new car will be a front wheel drive model. However there is also talk of a hybrid powered version. It could be that the compact cruiser will be offered exclusively as a green car, powered by a 2.4 Liter four cylinder engine that, with the help of an electric motor, is set to produce a maximum output of 187 HP wearing some sort of a combination of CT and h badges.

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