Lexusforum

De website thepassionatepursuit heeft enige enige details gepubliceerd over het nieuwe generatie "telematics service" van Lexus, welke zal gaan debuteren op de nieuwe RX. Dit systeem krijgt de naam "Lexus enform".

De specificaties welke gemeld worden zijn voor de Verenigde Staten, maar hopelijk zal het merendeel hier ook in Europa beschikbaar komen. Dit systeem zal onder andere de volgende functionaliteiten hebben:

(Klik hier voor de volledige details)

• Automatic Collision Notification (ACN): Safety Connect’s ACN will help drivers receive the necessary response from emergency teams. In the event of either an airbag deployment or a severe rear-end collision; the response center will be automatically notified via embedded cellular technology and GPS.
• Stolen Vehicle Location (SVL): Safety Connect subscribers will be able to rely on an extra level of security in the event that their vehicle is stolen. If this should happen, Safety Connect will assist in tracking the location of the stolen vehicle using the vehicle’s GPS.
• Emergency Assistance Button (SOS)All Safety Connect–enabled vehicles will come equipped with an SOS button, with the call center’s 24-hour emergency assistance only a press away.
• Roadside Assistance: Call center agents will help drivers receive aid for a wide range of needs, such as towing, jump start, flat tire, fuel delivery, etc. With this service, drivers will not need to rely on additional membership organizations for roadside coverage to help them get back on the road.
• Destination Assist: Live-operator assistance with finding destinations will be just the press of a button away with Destination Assist. While either parked or driving, the driver will be able to easily connect to an operator to ask for help finding local points of interest from dining to gas stations, dry cleaners to museums.
• eDestination: An expedient self-service feature of Lexus Enform is eDestination, which will allow the user to go online, via the Lexus owners’ Web site, to select and organize destinations of their choice and then send them wirelessly to their vehicle. The user can then simply select the destination of their choice and send it to a folder-creating a new one or inserting it into one they have already built. When finished making selections and creating folders, the user simply selects “save to vehicle” and their personalized destinations will be available to load into the vehicle’s navigation system upon the next start up.

(source)

This new casual-speech voice recognition system, called voice command, features VoiceBox Technology’s award-winning, patented Conversational Voice Search, and allows drivers to speak more flexible, conversational commands for easier access and control.

Without voice command, users must speak commands in a specific order, e.g., “Phone > Dial by Name > Dial Bob.” Now this same task can be completed simply by saying, “Call Bob at home.” The voice command system also works to control many functions of the audio system, heating and air conditioning, and the navigation system. Commands such as, “Make it cooler,” “Let’s find XM channel 46,” “I want a Japanese restaurant,” and “Where’s the nearest gas station along my route?”

One thing we know about Lexus drivers is that they appreciate up-to-the-minute information about the world around them. With Lexus Insider, a complimentary service on all Lexus Enform navigation-equipped vehicles, customers will be able to listen to audio broadcasts in their vehicles with the push of a button.

Because broadcast data transmission to automobiles is necessarily complicated by the unpredictable nature of when, and for how long, vehicles will be powered on, Lexus Insider makes use of innovative technology to optimize delivery.

(Source)

Volgens motorauthority.com heeft Lexus bevestigd dat het speciaal voor de Europese markt een compact model gaat introduceren. Dit model moet de competitie aangaan met de A3, de B-klasse en de 1-serie. Verder zou het Lexus goed uitkomen betreffende de Europese emissie eisen.

The carmaker’s executive vice president Tokuichi Uranishi has previously hinted that a model positioned below the current IS could be launched to help reach an internal goal of 150,000 sales in Europe by 2015. Now, the managing director for its European division, Tadashi Arashima, has confirmed in an interview with Germany’s WirtschaftsWoche newspaper that Lexus will eventually launch a new compact car.

“We will offer a Lexus in the compact class,” he told reporters, explaining that the company needs “smaller and more efficient vehicles” to meet Europe’s CO2 emissions regulations. He described the car as being a rival to the likes of BMW’s 1-series and Audi’s A3, although he didn’t reveal any exact release date.

Lexus heeft gisteren een nieuw online tv-kanaal gelanceerd met de naam L/Studio. Het ziet er naar uit dat Lexus met deze stap een echt life-style merk gaat worden. Op het kanaal wordt oa de serie vertoond met de naam “Web Therapy. Hierin speelt niemand minder dan Lisa Kudrow (Friends; Phoebe Buffay ) de rol van een rare psychiater.

Quote reuters:

The carmaker is launching an Internet-only branded channel Tuesday (September 23) stocked with a full slate of original programing headlined by [Lisa] Kudrow [from Friends] in a shortform comedy series in which she plays a nutty shrink. In an effort to keep the buzz going for the project, Lexus plans to recruit more celebrity contributors in the coming months. For now, the rest of L Studio is an eclectic mix of high-toned nonfiction programing that concerns everything from art to architecture to science. Some notable figures who are profiled on the site include the Doors’ Ray Manzarek and designer Patricia Field. Taken together, the connective thread between the programing mix and the Lexus brand, Blanchard said, is the theme of innovation. "We kind of look at ourselves as a broadband HBO," she said. "Being on broadband in and of itself is innovative for a lot of these artists."

Ook Lexus Amersfoort organiseert een hybrid drive event. Deze zal plaats vinden in het eerste weekend van oktober. Wij wensen Lexus Amersfoort veel succes. Aan de eventuele leden en/of bezoekers van dit forum, welke naar dit event toe gaan, vragen wij of zij bereid zijn hun bevindingen van deze dag in het forum te plaatsen.

Lexus Arnhem organiseert op 21 en 22 September op vliegveld Teuge een fly en drive voor haar klanten. Er wordt de mogelijkheid geboden om buiten het rijden in de hybride modellen ook een vlucht te maken in een Cirrus. De Cirrus is een modern eenmotorig vliegtuig welke natuurlijk goed bij de zakenrijder past.

Helaas kan ik zelf niet aanwezig zijn op dit event, maar ik hoop dat een bezoeker van Lexusforum.nl er naartoe gaat en zijn bevindingen wilt vertellen in ons forum. Wij wensen Lexus Arnhem en haar clientele veel succes op deze dag.

Hube

Motortrend.com laat in dit artikel schetsen zien van de komende hybride in de lexus line-up.

Volgens Motortrend zal deze hybride in Japan gebouwd gaan worden en gebaseerd zijn op de Prius. Verder zullen er zonnepanelen in het dak aanwezig zijn, wat het verbruik ten goede moeten komen. Wat zeer leuk is om te horen is dat er waarschijnlijk een cabriolet versie komt van deze auto.