The Lexus GX: Building Great SUVs Since the Early 2000s

Lexus GX

The Lexus GX is one of the top-selling cars in its product line. ‘GX’ is an abbreviation for ‘grand crossover,’ and it’s an abbreviation that manages to help sell the vehicle in its own right. The vehicle is categorized as a mid-size luxury sports utility vehicle (SUV). It has been in production since the year 2002, and it is still being produced today with newer and better models coming out fairly regularly. Its body is that of a five-door SUV. It has four-wheel drive and a front engine in terms of its layout.

The Introduction of the Lexus GX and Sports Utility Vehicles Themselves

It has become something of a staple of this category of products, which is why a lot of people forget that the Lexus GX has a fairly brief history. It’s only really been available since the year 2002. Sports utility vehicles themselves have become national and international institutions to the point where a lot of Americans forget that they weren’t as common as recently as twenty years ago. The Lexus GX itself was the third SUV to be introduced into the Lexus category of cars in the first place. It is one of their more popular models today, but Lexus wasn’t as well-known for its high-quality SUV’s at the time.

The Lexus GX was specifically the Lexus GX 470 when it was unleashed on the North American markets back in the year 2002. The development for this model began in 1999 and the design work by Shoichi Fujiyoshi was already completed halfway through the year 2000.

The development of almost anything is going to be influenced be neighboring historical factors. The Lexus GX is a successful car in its particular product line. However, it wouldn’t exist if theJ120 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado had not been the success that it was back in 1997. The original Lexus GX is similar enough to theJ120 Toyota Land Cruiser Prado that it is very clear that the vehicle had a strong influence on the development of the original Lexus GX.

Both of these vehicles have permanent four-wheel drive, which was less common in the vehicles of the day. They both have welded steel body-on-frame construction. They also both have five-speed automatic transmission that’s electronically controlled. Their bodywork, platforms, and mechanics are similar enough that it would be immediately obvious to almost all car experts who examined the two vehicles. The construction of the two vehicles occurred in the exact same plant, specifically, the Japanese Tahara Plant.

2014 Lexus GX 460

In other ways, the original Lexus GX appears to have a lot in common with the Toyota 4Runner, especially in terms of the layout of the suspension. The4.7-liter V8 engine of the Lexus GX was also used in the LX 470, which was a larger vehicle. Having the power of a larger vehicle in a smaller package has a lot of advantages. It can make the overall car faster and more responsive to external stimuli. It isn’t hard to see why the Lexus GX was so much of a success, and the subsequent generations still are today.

The original Lexus GX, and all of the subsequent models, have interesting implications for automotive history in general, and they act as symbols of the technological development that was occurring in vehicles at the time. The subsequent generation of the Lexus GX has helped indicate some of the technological developments that have been unique to the 2010’s.

The Generations of the Lexus GX

The first generation of the Lexus GX lasted from the year 2002 to the year 2009, making it a car distinct to the 2000’s era of vehicles. The car’s generation lasted a decent amount of time, which is indicative of the success of the model. However, the Lexus GX still went through additional changes between the year 2002 and the year 2009.

For instance, starting in the year 2004, customers got the option to add the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System. For people who enjoy driving vehicles off the road as part of a hobby, the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System really made all the difference in the world. The front and rear stabilizer bars can be manipulated automatically as a result of the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System. As such, the drivers will get that much more wheel travel.

Sales for the Lexus GX reached their peak in the year 2004, with sales of 35,420 in the United States alone. There was a slight decline in 2005 and then a more substantial decline in 2006 and 2007. By 2009, sales of the vehicle had plummeted to 6235 sales in the United States. These sorts of declines are hardly uncommon in the automotive industry. Vehicle manufacturers depend on selling relatively small numbers of products at relatively high prices. People will only own so many cars throughout their lives. People also will be strict about their preferences in automobiles.

It makes more sense to start introducing a new generation of vehicles during moments like this, and it shouldn’t surprise anyone that the next step for the Lexus manufacturers was to do just that. The Lexus GX 460 made its grand debt in 2009, where it was shown at the China (Guangzhou) International Automobile Exhibition. Given the success of the Kinetic Dynamic Suspension System, that feature was standard in the GX 460.

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The automatic transmission became six-speed instead of five-speed. However, two of the most notable changes concerned the fuel economy and the safety features of the two generations of vehicles. Increasing environmental concerns throughout the 2000’s caused automotive manufacturers all over the world to place more emphasis on fuel efficiency, even with vehicles like SUV’s, which are known for using a lot of energy. Concerns about SUV’s and safety became very prevalent throughout the 2000’s as well, which is another reason why Lexus wanted to make related upgrades to this new generation of their vehicles.

Sure enough, in 2010, there were 16,450 sales of the GX 460 in the United States alone and the number rose to 22,685 in 2014. This generation of vehicles is still going strong in 2015, and it is possible that this generation will outlast the previous one.

Written by Worthly