Lexus LF-CC Concept Provides Window Into the Future

Lexus is planning a new midsize luxury sport coupe, to be launched “in the near future,” according to the automaker, and the Lexus LF-CC Concept on display at the 2012 Paris Motor Show provides an idea of what it might look like when it arrives.

Lexus has been absent from the mid-luxury coupe and convertible segment since it discontinued the SC430 in 2010. The Lexus LF-CC Concept looks nothing like that old rounded bar of soap on wheels. Rather, the LF-CC Concept takes the current Lexus “L-Finesse” design language to the next level, with a more dramatic spindle-style grille, LED projector headlight arrays, L-shaped LED running lights and three-dimensional taillights, and flowing lines sharpened with crisp aerodynamic details.

While the LF-CC Concept’s shapely bodywork serves as a guide to what a production Lexus coupe might look like, its powertrain is ready to roll off of an assembly line. This sexy slice of sheetmetal is equipped with a new Lexus Hybrid Drive system that the company says it will introduce into its model range “in the near future.”

This new powertrain combines a direct-injected 2.5-liter Atkinson-cycle 4-cylinder engine with a high-output electric motor and what Lexus describes as a “high-performance” battery. We’re guessing it’s a lithium-ion battery, since launching a new hybrid powertrain with a nickel-metal hydride battery pack would invite global ridicule.

Lexus offers no details on timing for when the new Lexus Hybrid Drive powertrain, or a production version of the LF-CC Concept, will roll into showrooms, except to say “soon.” Let’s hope so.