Lexus rules out HS 250h dedicated hybrid for Europe

Lexus rules out HS 250h dedicated hybrid for Europe


Lexus won’t sell the HS 250h in Europe as its fuel-efficiency and performance are expected to be similar to the IS 220d
Lexus has confirmed that its all-new HS 250h dedicated hybrid won’t go on sale in Europe because its carbon-dioxide emissions are already close to the similarly sized IS 220d diesel sedan. The new hybrid is scheduled to go on sale in the U.S. by the middle of the year and will eventually go on sale in Japan, but no other market launches have been mentioned yet.

The information comes from Toyota’s chief of marketing communications in Europe, Serge Gachot, who revealed to Automotive News that the HS 250h was never intended for Europe. According to an inside source, Lexus expects the 187hp (140kW) HS 250h to offer similar performance to the IS 220d, which is sold exclusively in Europe. The company is still waiting on fuel-economy certification for the new model, but its mileage is also expected to be similar to the diesel IS. One significant advantage over diesel vehicles, however, is that the HS 250h requires only less expensive 87-octane petrol, potentially making it competitive in terms of overall cost-savings with diesel powered vehicles.

No specs for the hybrid system in the HS 250h have been revealed, such as battery capacity or total range on battery charge alone, but its designers claim the vehicle will be 30% more efficient than the most fuel efficient petrol-powered Lexus today.

Lexus still plans to offer hybrid versions of its GS, LS and RX model as none of these vehicles are offered with a diesel option yet.