Lexus will reportedly replace its LC and RC with a single model, which could shape as a spiritual successor to the old SC 300 and SC 400 (aka Toyota Soarer).
Japanese outlet Best Car Web reports the new rear-wheel drive coupe will launch as a hybrid in 2025, with an electric version following in 2026.
Lexus will still reportedly have at least two coupes in its line-up moving forward, however, with a twin-turbo V8 plug-in hybrid-powered LFA successor in the works.
The company is also reportedly working on a production version of the Electrified Sport concept, which would bring the total to three coupes even as the body style continues to fade in popularity.
Lexus Electrified Sport concept
The rumoured LFA II, as it’s being referred to, will be more overtly sporty than the RC/LC successor, which in classic SC/Soarer fashion will reportedly be more of a grand tourer with a “Lexus classic coupe design”.
It’ll reportedly be closer to the LC than the RC in both size and price, measuring 4800mm long and 1900mm wide, weighing 1950kg, with an estimated price of ¥15 million (A$157,593).
The current LC measures 4770mm long and 1920mm wide, weighs 1960kg in hybrid guise, and opens at just over $204,000 before on-road costs in Australia.
The RC, in contrast, is 4695mm long and when it was last sold here, opened comfortably under the $100k barrier.
Lexus LC
Also like the LC, Best Car Web reports it will use an updated version of the current flagship grand tourer’s rear-wheel drive GA-L platform, which also underpins the luxury LS limousine.
It’s unclear what hybrid powertrain it would use, whether it be the 3.5-litre V6 of the current LC500h, which produces 264kW, or the 3.4-litre twin-turbo V6 hybrid of the Toyota Tundra and Sequoia which pumps out 326kW and 790Nm.
Another possibility is Toyota’s new 2.4-litre turbocharged four-cylinder hybrid, which in the new Prado produces 243kW and 630Nm. An even more powerful 2.4T hybrid is found in the Lexus RX 500h F Sport Performance, which pumps out 273kW.
The naturally aspirated 5.0-litre V8 of the current LC 500 and RC F will reportedly be retired. It’s also still available in the IS 500 F Sport Performance sedan, which is understood to be towards the end of its lifecycle.
Lexus RC
Lexus has a long history of building coupes, though apart from the ultra-exclusive LFA it didn’t offer one in Australia until the RC of 2014, derived from the IS and GS. The LC followed locally in 2017.
In 1991, just two years after the brand’s US debut, Lexus launched the SC in that market. This was a third generation of the Toyota Soarer, a rear-wheel drive coupe that had proved popular with well-heeled Japanese buyers in the 1980s.
The SC, available with six-cylinder or V8 power, was priced closer to the later GS sedan than the flagship LS, and was produced until 2000.
First-generation Lexus SC
It was replaced by the SC 430, a folding hardtop convertible that was introduced to Australia and produced until 2010. This was still sold as a Toyota Soarer in Japan until the Lexus brand finally debuted there in 2005.
This was effectively, if belatedly, replaced by the even more upscale LC which later gained a soft top convertible variant.
The LC is now the only two-door offered by the brand in Australia, with the RC withdrawn in 2021 as it didn’t meet stricter new side impact standards.
MORE: Everything Lexus LC
MORE: Everything Lexus RC
