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Lexus CT 200h
Lexus announces pricing, EPA numbers for its newest hybrid

Vehicles like the recently introduced Chevrolet Volt and Nissan Leaf may be grabbing the bulk of the headlines when it comes to electric/hybrid vehicles, but Lexus is looking to make a few headlines of its own with its CT 200h hybrid hatchback.

Lexus today announced that the vehicle will be priced from $29,995 including destination fee. Officials at Lexus seem quite ecstatic about the CT 200h, which they hope will improve upon the lackluster sales of the HS 250h hybrid sedan introduced earlier this year.

“For just $1,000 more than the cost of a non-luxury hybrid, buyers can indulge in a CT 200h with our proven Lexus Hybrid Drive technology,” said Mark Templin, group vice president and general manager, Lexus Division. “Lexus hybrids currently make up 90 percent of all luxury hybrid sales in the U.S., so you can imagine how excited we are to continue our leadership in this market with the CT 200h.”

Standard features of the CT 200h will include:

  • Bluetooth phone/streaming media support
  • Dual zone automatic climate control
  • Six speaker audio system
  • SmartAccess key with push button start/stop
  • Satellite radio
  • 17" aluminum wheels

In addition to announcing pricing for the CT 200h, Lexus also revealed official EPA numbers for the car. The CT 200h will achieve 43 mpg in the city and 40 mpg on the highway (42 combined). Those figures compare to 50 mpg combined for the Toyota Prius which shares the same powertrain (1.8-liter gasoline engine plus Toyota's Synergy Hybrid Drive).

The Toyota Prius starts at $22,800.

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Who's going to buy this car?
By corduroygt on 12/15/2010 2:56:02 PM , Rating: 5
It gets worse mileage than the cheaper Prius, and it's just as slow and uninteresting to drive. Why would someone buy this over a Prius, which can be loaded up with most of the options in this car?




RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Ammohunt on 12/15/2010 2:58:30 PM , Rating: 5
Status and class envy of course the Lookit me! factor.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By cbass377 on 12/15/2010 2:59:10 PM , Rating: 5
Just 6 More MPGs to go and it will be even with my 2005 VW Jetta turbodiesel. I paid 26K for it.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Lord 666 on 12/15/2010 3:12:26 PM , Rating: 5
Not sure why anyone rated you down. My 2006 TDI make this car look silly.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By SSDMaster on 12/15/10, Rating: 0
RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By GulWestfale on 12/15/2010 3:48:43 PM , Rating: 3
$30k for a matrix with a fancy badge and shitty gas mileage?
the only people who will buy this are the same kind of people who buy apple because they truly believe in the marketing and think that others will be impressed by the brand.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By SSDMaster on 12/15/2010 3:51:56 PM , Rating: 5
"The only people"

Your basically saying this car will sell quite well. Just going by how well Apple is doing these days with the focus towards packaging and "perceived" quality.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Jeffk464 on 12/15/2010 4:17:05 PM , Rating: 2
If they based this thing on the Matrix somebody at Toyota needs to get their ass kicked.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Jeffk464 on 12/15/2010 4:20:37 PM , Rating: 2
OMG! it is based on the Matrix, a $30,000 plus toyota carolla, what a joke.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 12/15/2010 4:59:03 PM , Rating: 5
Where are you getting the Matrix from? The Matrix is built on the Corolla platform.

The CT 200h is based partially on the Prius platform (engine, hybrid components, front suspension) and partially on the Toyota Avensis/Scion tC (rear suspension).

As for the "s**ty gas mileage", what other vehicles this size in the U.S. can claim 42 mpg combined?


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By GulWestfale on 12/15/2010 5:10:07 PM , Rating: 2
why matrix/corolla?
because it has the exact same wheelbase, and the exact same suspension (macpherson struts in front, double wishbones in back)

the avensis, by the way, is related closely to the scion tC and slots in between the corolla and camry in the european market.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By chrnochime on 12/15/2010 5:54:29 PM , Rating: 2
It's based more on the avensis than the corolla, but apparently that fact is lost on you.

And WTH is "acceleration is confident"? That just means it accelerates like a snail just like the 2.0L N/A VW gas engine. The mpg might be better than the CT but the acceleration is still slow at 8.9. Yes it's better than the CT200h's 9.8 but that's not saying much.

But congrats on owning a TDI. Really, that's like the only car in VW that owners aren't complaining about the crapload of engine related problems. You only have to deal with the electrical problems LOL


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By GulWestfale on 12/15/2010 7:43:44 PM , Rating: 2
how is this a fact? because toyota marketing says so? the wheelbase is 4 inches shorter than the avensis', and matches the corolla's. it also uses the same suspension setup as the corolla.
and even if it were an avensis in drag instead of a corolla wagon aka matrix in drag, it'd still be very overpriced as the avensis is quite a lot smaller than a camry.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By liquidaim on 12/15/2010 9:14:46 PM , Rating: 2
I agree with "GulWestfale". this puppy indeed looks like it could be based on the matrix chassis. Too bad it doesn't have the 1.8L 2ZZFE (or Duzzie) engine of the original matrix xrs / celica GTS. This thing has sooo much potential with that engine, a specially tuned version of this engine is also used in the Lotus Elise.

compare matrix dimensions:
http://www.toyota.com/matrix/specs.html

with ct200h:
http://www.caranddriver.com/news/car/10q1/2011_lex...

I've been researching wagons lately to see how things will pan out for that segment when I'm ready to buy another in 2017/2018.

I have a 2003 matrix xrs and love it, especially the fold flat front passenger seat.

For my next car I would like to get a similar hot hatchback with similar or larger dimensions.

I hope this becomes a success and BMW finally brings the 1 series 5door stateside. a reardrive 5 door hatch...mmmm yummy.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Samus on 12/15/2010 8:15:47 PM , Rating: 1
I'd take this over the Prius if I were in the market for a hybrid. Sure the Prius starts at 22k but kitted out its 29k (leather seats, etc.) I'd spend the extra grand just for the styling of the CT200h.

But I don't buy japcrap. Better off with a Volt for $3,500 more after tax credits.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By zixin on 12/16/2010 12:35:24 PM , Rating: 2
This car will come with a tax credit which will bring the difference to north of $7000. As to Japcrap, who is know as having better quality? Was it Toyota, or Chevy? Can't quite remember.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By fteoath64 on 12/17/2010 2:12:05 AM , Rating: 2
Toyota quality is really great for the Jap class of cars, way better than Honda in terms of durability and lower cost for the parts. The Colt is not know or unproven while the Lexus marque are already premium, hence gets better service from the dealers.
This Lexus is the one to go for.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Desslok on 12/16/2010 2:01:54 PM , Rating: 1
Please remind me what car comapny should have gone bankrupt? Oh yea! It was GM, and why did this happen? Craptastic build quality, building cars no one wanted(ie The Chevy Trailblazer, GMC Envoy XUV, and the oh so awesome Chevy SSR). Go ahead and buy your Volt for $3,500 more, because you just don't buy "japcrap".


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By FITCamaro on 12/16/2010 2:57:53 PM , Rating: 3
Actually they went out of business because of high labor and health care costs. Said costs were reflected in the quality of their cars because they couldn't afford higher quality and still keep the price down.

And no one wanted trucks? Do you even live in the US? And the SSR? They haven't built that in what? 5 years? It actually was a good concept. Only spoiled by its insanely high weight which kind of ruined its sport truck like image.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Desslok on 12/16/2010 3:26:52 PM , Rating: 2
The Trailblazer and the Envoy were NOT trucks. The Trailblazer was the SUV that time forgot, very little in the ways of refresh and that inline 6 was the biggest piece of crap engine. It was supposed to have the power of the 8 with the MPG of the 6 and it had neither.

The point on the SSR is that GM did not learn the lesson of the Prowler. No one wants an overweight underpowered sport truck.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Samus on 12/16/2010 4:07:14 PM , Rating: 3
I love it how people are brainwashed into thinking the Japanese and German auto companies build vastly superior cars...I don't even know where to begin.

Go drive an old Ford Focus ZX3, a Volkswagen Golf MK4, a Honda Civic Type R, a Toyota Prius, and tell me which one you had the most fun in. It won't be the Japanese cars. The Japanese make soul-less, boring, and unbelievably ugly vehicles. People are so focused on what the media and people tell them that they're forgetting the most important aspect of a car: having fun driving it.

I don't neccessarily like Nissan, but the GT-R is a great car. I do like Mazda, and the RX8 is a great car. See the trend here? Unfortunately, there are currently, amond ALL Japanese auto manufactures, FOUR sports cars in production. Those mentioned, plus the MX5 and technically the G37. No, the LF-A isn't a sports car. And no, the Impreza and Lancer are not sports cars. Why? Because they're not fun. In the case of Subaru and Mitsubishi, they're also incredibly unreliable.

The reason the Japanese are doing so good and America is doing so poorly (fiscally) is because of the trade exchange rates, higher labor rates, higher taxes, and idiots who think the imports are 'better.'


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By FITCamaro on 12/17/2010 9:15:30 AM , Rating: 2
Uh yes the I6 in the trailblzer did. It was 275hp and 275 lb ft. At the time it came out the Ford Explorer had a 215 hp V8.

And the Prowler was a 200hp V6 "hotrod". Yes it was underpowered for what was supposed to be a hotrod. The SSR was a 350-400 5.7-6.0L V8 sport truck. Hardly underpowered. It's problem was weight, not power.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By FITCamaro on 12/17/2010 9:17:26 AM , Rating: 3
And as an inline engine its torque was available pretty much off idle. As far as gas mileage, its in a heavy SUV. What do you expect. It got a little better gas mileage than a comparable V8.

It's still classified as a truck though.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By mellomonk on 12/15/2010 3:50:27 PM , Rating: 1
quote:
How is that? With equally abysmal acceleration, ugly VW exterior and lackluster interior?


Besides being poor, you obviously have never sat in, or driven the Jetta tdi. No, it doesn't have a silly led-laden boy racer Jap interior. It is all about proper teutonic simplicity and soft touch materials. The tdi is a honey of a 2.0L turbo diesel. Acceleration is confident with over 230lb/ft of fat torque at less the 2K on the tach.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By SSDMaster on 12/15/2010 3:55:05 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Acceleration is confident with over 230lb/ft of fat torque at less the 2K on the tach.


Torque isn't a measurement of speed. You can accelerate up a hill with 100 more torque than my boy racer Mitsubishi but I'll still beat you to the top.

Though I'm sure you'll be neck and neck with my mom's prius.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By mellomonk on 12/15/10, Rating: -1
RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By SSDMaster on 12/16/2010 9:52:44 AM , Rating: 2
quote:
but it acceleration is more the competitive with the average American grocery getter


Well I'm actually a Rocket scientist with a PH. D in making stuff up. And let's get one thing straight. Given the above quoted statement you obviously don't live in America. Most "Grocery Getter's" are 200+ hp SUV's here in America and they'd smoke a TDI. Not that it'd be much fun to have to watch that drag race but there's really no comparison..

"Confident Acceleration" doesn't win any races, and "your S4" won't be able to beat "my Lamborghini Gallardo". Since, let's face it. I don't own a super car and you don't own an Audi.

quote:
Acceleration of a given vehicle is a direct correlation of the amount of torque it can apply to the drive train


Let's assume you really do have a degree in engineering. Then you'd have no problem explaining to me why the TDI with it's 200+ Torque can only accelerate to 60MPH in what... 8-9 seconds? Unless you want to argue that given another 100 Torque the Jetta would be even faster...


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By FITCamaro on 12/16/2010 2:54:25 PM , Rating: 2
If you give a damn about speed you don't drive a Jetta TDI either. You drive a Jetta TDI because you want a comfortable car with great mileage.

And that diesel will take a shit load of boost, get faster, and still get great gas mileage if you keep it out of boost. Something even an Evo can't do. I dare you to poke fun at the many diesel trucks picking up 100-150 hp and 300-400 lb ft of torque with a simple plugin tuner.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Spuke on 12/17/2010 5:01:59 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
If you give a damn about speed you don't drive a Jetta TDI either.
SSDMaster wasn't the one with the VW TDI.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Jeffk464 on 12/15/2010 4:11:16 PM , Rating: 2
This years Jetta looks pretty damn awesome to and now there is enough history on that power train to know if its reliable or not. I don't trust VW one bit.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Solandri on 12/15/2010 4:48:52 PM , Rating: 2
quote:
Just 6 More MPGs to go and it will be even with my 2005 VW Jetta turbodiesel.

Diesel has about 11% more energy per unit volume than gasoline. So in terms of energy efficiency, this is already about even with your Jetta TDI.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By MrTeal on 12/15/2010 3:49:07 PM , Rating: 2
Someone dumb enough to really want a hybrid but smart enough to not want to drive an egg.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Smartless on 12/15/2010 3:49:34 PM , Rating: 2
Aren't most luxury brands just that? Honda & Acura, Lexus & Toyota, Infinity & Nissan, Mercury & Ford, Par Car Golf Carts & Smart Cars.... If anything, the only thing this Lexus is missing is a slightly bumped engine from its Toyota counterpart but I guess that's why the price isn't that much more.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Jeffk464 on 12/15/2010 4:15:04 PM , Rating: 2
Uhm

BMW & Mercedes

Plus Lexus and Acura make unique luxury cars north of the $40,000 mark that don't share platforms with more practical cars. I think the infinity G37's are unique as well since the maxima and altima are front wheel drives.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Flunk on 12/15/2010 4:41:35 PM , Rating: 1
Nissan makes the 370z, which is what the G37's are based on.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By FITCamaro on 12/16/2010 3:00:50 PM , Rating: 2
Seriously. When the 350Z came out the G35 Coupe was exactly the same car with different badges. You had/have to be stupid to buy the G35/G37 over the 350Z/370Z considering the parts that count are exactly the same.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Spuke on 12/17/2010 5:40:11 PM , Rating: 3
quote:
You had/have to be stupid to buy the G35/G37 over the 350Z/370Z considering the parts that count are exactly the same.
Some people prefer luxury over sport which is the purpose of the Infiniti G's. Not to mention, the G's just plain look great. Personally, I'd be happy with either the G or Z. BTW, the 370Z is awesome!!!! Out of the box impressive.


By Pneumothorax on 12/15/2010 6:07:55 PM , Rating: 2
Lexus mostly part shares in their lower end cars while the RWD are definitely their own platforms. OTOH Acura is probably the worst platform/sharer as all their platforms are based or derived from Honda products!
Accord=TSX(rebadged euro accord)=TL=RL
Pilot=MDX=ZDX
CRV=RDX


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Jeffk464 on 12/15/2010 4:06:42 PM , Rating: 1
If its built on the IS platform like the IS250 hybrid then it is a way better car than the prius.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Brandon Hill (blog) on 12/15/2010 4:53:03 PM , Rating: 2
The IS is a rear-wheel drive vehicle. The CT is front wheel drive. They share nothing in common at all.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By YashBudini on 12/15/10, Rating: -1
RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By micksh on 12/15/2010 4:57:02 PM , Rating: 2
It is built on Prius platform which is Corolla platform. Add stunning combined 134 horsepower to that and you get a truly luxury car.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Flunk on 12/15/2010 4:09:05 PM , Rating: 2
It's smaller, lighter and faster. That's why it gets worse mileage. It's a pretty neat little car, although I have a feeling that if I was spending $30,000 on a car I would want at least 200 horsepower.

What's a Mazdaspeed 3 go for again... 26k? Little more gets you a WRX? Sure the mileage isn't quite as great but it's still not bad.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Jeffk464 on 12/15/2010 4:41:11 PM , Rating: 2
To hell with that, thats getting close to the price of a G37 sedan. Which is one


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By FITCamaro on 12/16/2010 3:04:59 PM , Rating: 2
Uh the G37 Sedan starts at $35K. 1/3 more than the MS3.

But those two cars are in completely different classes. The G37 is a true four door sedan with some sport to it. The MS3 is essentially a 2 door with backseats that happen to have doors. You're not going to fit 4 adults comfortably in one. A guy at work just got one. Peppy car. Annoying looks from the front.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By corduroygt on 12/16/2010 11:11:06 AM , Rating: 2
It's not lighter nor faster than the Prius, that's the problem. It gets worse mileage because it's heavier.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Keeir on 12/15/2010 6:35:50 PM , Rating: 2
Yes its a real puzzle to me too.

1.) Classic Hatchback shape - Not Popular in US
2.) Small Size - Not popular in Luxury cars in US. (See Audi, BMW, MB, Acura who have weak sales if they even bother)
3.) Cramped Interior with poor visibility. (Check out that HUGE dash and remember this is a Corolla sized car.)
4.) Hybrid performance - Not popular in conventionally shaped cars/without class leading MPG (See every other Hybrid except the Prius)
5.) Compromised interior design... not as sporty as A3/Golf type nor as usefuly as Prius/Sportwagen
6.) Not true luxury - Not even leather seats in "base" trim. Getting to "normal" luxury features will get you into the 32,000+ range.

I think there are around 15,000-20,000 potential consumers in the US each year for this type of car... doubt Lexus will even get 50%... so I expect sales of 7,000-10,000 units... about 60% of their projects or just about how many 3-series BMW sells each month in NA


By AstroGuardian on 12/16/2010 4:26:45 AM , Rating: 2
Is this post a SPAM?


By mmcdonalataocdotgov on 12/16/2010 8:00:54 AM , Rating: 1
As the owner of a Prius that cost $30K loaded, I will buy this car, which will cost close to $40K with the same options, because of the reduction in road noise, and a smoother ride, plus more automatic features. I would never consider what others think of my choice in ride since I am not 12 years old.


RE: Who's going to buy this car?
By Chaser on 12/16/2010 12:54:17 PM , Rating: 2
Why? Because Lexus dealers and service centers tend to have higher end facilties that provide a better customer experience than your corner Toyota dealer. Such as loaner cars, etc. Ever been to a Lexus dealer? I lived in hickville, Louisville, KY and our Lexus Dealer one one of the most professional, comfortable, full service dealer facilities in the area. It has an open bar for non alcohol refreshments, dedicated internet kiosks, a coffee bar and a viewing area you can watch your car while they work on it.

Some people prefer the upper scale versions of cars. Like a seat in first class over coach. So even though in your mind your math has concluded that a Toyota is the better purchase doesn't neccesarily prove that it's the wrong choice for everyone else.


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