Lexus UX SUV confirmed for production as Lexus’s new entry-level SUV

The recent Lexus UX Concept is to go in to production as a new compact Lexus SUV, aimed at attracting younger buyers to the Lexus brand.

The Lexus UX arrived as a concept at the Frankfurt Motor Show last year, and showed that Lexus are serious about getting funky and attracting a younger demographic to the brand.

Of course, that is already happening, with the rather good Lexus NX, a crossover/SUV that proves Lexus can make an appealing and able family SUV, even with a CVT gearbox and hybrid powertrain.

But the UX will be proper bait for a younger demographic, and it has now been confirmed for production by Lexus VP Yoshihiro Sawa, who told Australia’s Motoring that the UX is not far away.

The NX borrows from the less funky RAV4 for its underpinnings, and the new UX will be taking what Toyota has and turning it in to a Lexus, but this time the Toyota in question is the properly funky C-HR.

You can probably discount much of the concept stuff from the UX – like daft seats and massive alloys – but shape and size will probably make it through with just a little taming.

That will create an entry-level SUV for Lexus which could be properly appealing, perhaps with Lexus’s 2.0 litre turbo under the bonnet as an option as well as the de rigueur hybrid in the form of the 200h under the Lexus CT. Or maybe the 300h from the NX.

There’s no word on when the Lexus UX will turn in to a production model, but if Yoshihiro Sawa is saying it’s not far away that could be as soon as the Paris Motor Show in September.