Car model names are important to automotive companies because they give their products an identity, making them relatively unique in the sea of cars on the market. While some automakers use specific words (or sometimes phrases) as model names, others, such as Lexus, prefer to use letters to represent the reason behind each of their cars.
Lexus UK reveals the true meaning behind the lettering – perhaps something worth showing your friends over the holiday celebrations. Here’s the list in alphabetical order.
The Japanese marque named its five-door hatchback the Lexus CT, which stands for Creative Tour. According to Lexus, Creative used as a car that uses a hybrid powertrain in a segment dominated by diesel-powered models, meanwhile Tour used to fight the myth that a hybrid car means sacrificing luggage and passenger space.
The Lexus ES was launched alongside the LS. ES stands for Executive Sedansintended as a smaller version of the flagship model.
Following in the footsteps of the Lexus LS in using Sedan as a meaningful GS suffix Big Sedans, is the automaker’s mid-range model. Its name represents its position as the middle child in the Lexus sedan lineup.
Notably omitted in the Lexus UK Magazine release is the Lexus GX, which stands for Great Crossing. Much like the GS, the GX stands as the middle child in the automaker’s crossover/SUV lineup.
Although you might think that S in Lexus IS stands for Sedan, actually no. SI stands for Smart Sports. This model was intended to represent traditional Lexus qualities in a smaller, more mechanically dynamic package to appeal to a younger customer base.
Intended to incorporate the premium offerings of the Lexus LS in a “seductive” coupe body, the LC, or Luxury Coupes, is the automaker’s flagship coupe “engineered in every dimension to deliver a highly distinctive and rewarding driving experience”. Another C suffix stands for Open top car in several markets.
The Lexus supercar was born as the LFA concept that stood for Future Lexus Forwardthen changed to Lexus F-Sport Apex in the form of production. This is intended to represent the position of the LFA as a benchmark for the performance of the F series brand.
Its flagship model, the Lexus LS, stands for Luxury Sedans, and fittingly because it was this car that launched Lexus in 1989 as a luxury automaker. It is the pinnacle of work by 60 designers, 1400 engineers, 2300 technicians and more than 200 support workers.
Also omitted in the release was the Lexus LX, which stands for Luxury Crossing. Since the model isn’t really a crossover – it’s an SUV based entirely on the Toyota Land Cruiser – some importers do Luxury Four Wheel Drive to represent letters.
The Japanese luxury marque has also ventured into building yachts and surprisingly named its ship the Lexus LY, or Luxury cruise ship.
Lexus NX, which stands for Nimble crossoverso named to represent the vehicle’s smaller size, ergo, more agile properties that are perfect for both urban and rural routes.
Lexus RC, or Radical coupesdesigned to challenge perceptions of what a self-charging petrol-electric hybrid should look like.
That F the suffix represents the high-performance model in the Lexus range – used in reference to the Fuji Speedway in Japan, where hundreds of hours of testing were carried out on the RC F.
That Luminous crossover, or Lexus RX, represents the future the automaker envisioned when it launched at the start of the new millennium. That L the suffix is used to denote a larger seven-seater version.
Offered from 1992 to 2010, the Lexus SC, or Sports coupessuitable for the mid-range luxury coupe market.
The Lexus UX is the smallest in the brand’s crossover lineup, marking the automaker’s first time producing an ultra-compact luxury crossover. UX stands for urban Crossing, “aims to embody a free-spirited style that appeals to the modern urban cruiser,” according to Lexus.
