The end of the financial year always sees pencils sharpened at car dealers across the nation, and today it’s Lexus that have announced a number of deals that mainly apply to their SUV range.
There’s a bid to simplify the pricing structure of the SUV lineup afoot – temporarily, at this stage – which aligns the UX small SUV, NX mid-sizer and the larger RX at $10,000 price jumps: essentially fifty, sixty, and seventy grand.
The four models on offer in the campaign: IS, UX, NX and RX.
Those arrangements apply only to the entry-spec, front-drive Luxury variants of each of the respective model ranges, with the deals representing savings at each step. The full-size LX is not included.
Lexus Australia managing director Scott Thompson said the move was directed to giving buyers “the clearest visibility” of the brand’s SUV lineup.
Thompson said the campaign, dubbed Step Up, introduces “logical steps” between three of the Japanese brand’s more popular SUVs.
The RX is discounted almost thirteen grand.
With a justification like that, we wouldn’t be surprised to see similar stepped pricing introduced on a more permanent basis.
In particular, the RX300 Luxury, which is being offered at $69,888 until the end of June, is being discounted by almost $13,000 over its ordinary driveaway price of $82,753.
The RX300 uses a two-litre turbo four producing 175kW/350Nm paired to a six-speed torque converter auto. Standard spec is decent, and includes an eight-inch infotainment screen with navigation and DAB radio, leather seats with heating, cooling and power adjustment up front, a wireless smartphone charger, 20-inch wheels, all-around keyless entry, and LED headlights. AEB, lane keep assist, blind spot monitoring, and adaptive cruise control are included.
The ageing NX300 receives a small discount.
Meanwhile, the medium-sized NX300 Luxury is being offered at $59,888, which is a more modest discount of $2,039.
The NX300 uses the same 175kW/350Nm two-litre as the RX and includes similar specification, but in a smaller package. The screen is a little larger at 10 inches, but the upholstery shifts to artificial leather and the front pews are only heated, not cooled. Other convenience features are much the same, though the safety package is a little more basic, packing forward collision warning, lane departure warning with some steering intervention, blind spot monitoring, and rear cross traffic alert.
The newest SUV of the bunch – the urban-sized UX – sees a real-world price cut of $1,174 for the UX200 Luxury grade, with driveaway pricing until the end of June pegged at $49,888.
Even though it’s effectively brand new, there is a small discount offered on the UX200.
The UX200 makes 126kW/205Nm from its two-litre atmospheric four-cylinder – sent to the front wheels via a CVT automatic with a torque converter first gear. Leather seats are heated and power-adjustable in the front row; navigation and DAB radio are included. There is keyless entry on the front doors and boot, along with LED headlights.
The UX has the benefit of Lexus’ latest safety suite, which includes AEB with pedestrian and cyclist detection, lane tracing, adaptive cruise control, speed sign recognition, and rear cross-traffic alert.
One Lexus sedan is also offered at a discount for the end of the financial year: the IS300 is priced at $57,888 until June 30, a considerable $8,809 discount over its standard driveaway tag of $66,697.
As an alternative to an SUV, the IS300 is included in the Step Up campaign.
The IS300 uses the same two-litre turbo as the NX300 and RX300, while making slightly more power (180kW/350Nm) and utilising an eight-speed torque converter auto. Standard spec includes a 10-inch screen with digital radio and navigation, a 10-speaker Pioneer stereo, leather seats that are heated, cooled and power-adjustable in the front row; LED headlights and front-door keyless entry are included too. On the safety front, there’s AEB, lane keep assist, and radar cruise control.
Lexus 2019 end of financial year discounted models
Lexus UX200 Luxury 2WD: $49,888 driveaway
Lexus IS300 Luxury: $57,888 driveaway
Lexus NX300 Luxury 2WD: $59,888 driveaway
Lexus RX300 Luxury 2WD: $69,888 driveaway
