Luxo Brute

The Land Cruiser derived Lexus LX is the brand's big, hulking flagship SUV and we had a go in one to find out if it's too much of a brute to fit into the world of high-end luxury SUVs

- Dhruv Saxena

The Lexus LX is the brand’s flagship in India and it’s easy to see why buyers might find this Land Cruiser LC 300 derived plus-sized luxury SUV an enticing proposition. Massive proportions and the kind of dominating road presence that is hard to match aside, there’s also the fact that it comes across as more old-school hardcore than its rivals. But at almost Rs 3 crore on-road, it’s both more expensive than the likes of the Range Rover and not as luxurious either. Does it mean that the Lexus LX isn’t a strong enough contender in the high-end luxury SUV space? Well, the answer isn’t a straightforward yes or no, as we discovered.

With every new generation of the LX, Lexus has ensured more and more deviation from the donor car, parent company Toyota’s Land Cruiser, in terms of interior and exterior styling. The LX gets the signature Lexus look with the massive signature spindle grille that defines the SUV’s front end. The nose is mostly all grille, flanked by sharp LED headlamps.

It also helps the LX exude a very strong air of dominance, enough for smaller cars in front to move out of the way quicker than they usually do once their driver gets an eye-full of all that grille in their rearview mirrors. This right here is a big part of the LX’s appeal, not for everyone, of course, but plenty of buyers who crave this sort of bullying road presence.

Adding muscle to the front end is a heavily sculpted bonnet along with bulging wheel arches and the slab-sided silhouette further helps enhance the LX’s tough and dominating look.

Over to the back, there are more signature Lexus design elements including a full-width LED lightbar and L-shape stop lamps. Unlike the older car which carried the Lexus insignia, both front and back, this latest iteration has Lexus spelt out in big bold letters on the tailgate.