A successor to the Lexus LF-A->ke2181 has been in the pipeline for quite some time now and while it remains unclear on when the supercar->ke177 will be launched, Japanese magazine Best Car continues to stress that Lexus->ke47 will have some help in building the successor to the LF-A. That help, apparently, will come from BMW->ke178. This rumor has been brewing for some time now, but if you really think about it, it's hard to make any sense of it because Lexus and BMW aren't exactly bosom buddies. Sure, there's a healthy amount of respect for the other brand, but at their core, the two consider the other as rivals.
Why would BMW help Lexus develop the new LF-A when it could compete directly with the i8? It just doesn't make sense considering the lengths Lexus has taken in the past year to line up car after car to compete against German brands like BMW.
Maybe Best Car knows something that none of us do, which could explain why the magazine appears to be insisting that a BMW-Lexus collaboration is in the works. But call us skeptical on this rumor because we just don't see the sense behind it.
Click past the jump to read more about the BMW i8 - BMW's current supercar.
Why It Matters
If Lexus and BMW really are partnering up to develop the successor to the LF-A, it would be huge news, especially if Lexus has plans to make the new LF-A some sort of hybrid supercar that's in the mold of the i8. But the more we think about it, the more it doesn't add up.
Unless BMW is really confident about the i8 and doesn't mind helping out the competition, then it can probably go to bed at night thinking a partnership with Lexus would be a good idea. Or maybe not.
BMW i8
The production-version BMW i8 made its world debut at the 2013 Frankfurt Motor Show after a series of concept cars were revealed in the previous years.
The i8 is powered by a hybrid powertrain that combines a 1.5-liter, three-cylinder engine that delivers 231 horsepower and 236 pound-feet of torque to the rear wheels while an electric motor that produces 131 horsepower and 184 pound-feet of torque drives the front ones.
With a combined output of 362 horsepower and 420 pound-feet of torque, the i8 goes from 0 to 60 mph in 4.4 seconds and sprints to a top speed of 155 mph.
On the U.S. market the i8 is priced from $135,925.