Japanese newspaper Nikkei business daily is reporting that a new Toyota hybrid will be introduced next year:

Toyota Motor Corp plans to produce 100,000 units a year of a new hybrid-only model slated for release in 2009 at a subsidiary in southern Japan, the Nikkei business daily reported on Saturday.

The new car, which will be Toyota's second dedicated hybrid model after the hot-selling Prius, will have a 2- to 2.5-litre engine and will also be sold under the company's luxury Lexus brandname, the paper said.

You may remember last month's announcement/retraction about this very vehicle, but to recap: Toyota VP of R&D Masatami Takimoto stated that there would be three hybrids announced; the next-gen Prius, a new Toyota, and a new Lexus. However, this was later retracted by Toyota, who said that it was one Toyota & one Lexus.

What's the big deal? Well, the common opinion is that the new Lexus hybrid will be a variation on the Prius, but that's less likely if indeed there's a new Toyota in the works. If you consider the Toyota lineup, I would say a hybrid Rav4 is the best fit, which means Lexus may have a BMW X3 competitor on the way.

[Source: Reuters]

Edmunds has more spy footage of the Lexus RX prototype booting its way around Nürburgring (click on the image below to be taken to the video):

In their analysis, Edmunds points out the elimination of a portion of the rear side windows, which I had missed. Here's a visual comparison:

There's definitely little deviation from the current model, but I really like the improvements.

(Thanks Jarrett!)

Toyota has responded to an Edmunds article that suggested the Lexus SC will be discontinued:

Mike Michels, the corporate manager of External Communications for Toyota Motor Sales USA, has told AutomotiveWorld.com that reports by a US-based automotive website which claim the Lexus SC and Toyota Avalon will not be replaced due to slow sales are "unfounded speculation".

"We [TMS] do not comment on future product plans or timetables, for obvious competitive reasons," Michels states, stating that Inside Line did not contact the OEM's US division's media department before publishing its story.

Not really a denial, not really a confirmation, which makes me feel the news may be true. If that's the case, I doubt the company is very happy to have someone leaking out business details.

[Source: Automotive World]

According to Edmund's Inside Line, the next generation Lexus SC has been cancelled:

Toyota had been developing a successor to the SC, based on the same rear-wheel-drive platform as the LF-A. Originally slated for production in early 2009, the next-generation SC was pushed back to mid-2011 and now has been canceled, according to Toyota insiders.

Of course, this is speculative and unconfirmed. Even should the rumor turn out correct, it can only be one half of the story, because there's no way Lexus pulls out of the coupe/convertible market entirely. More likely, this is a temporary hiatus, which also happened in 2001 between the phasing out of the first-gen SC and the SC 430.

My current theory is this: The SC will be be shelved during the 2009 model year, which will be offset by the introduction of the IS coupe/convertible. Then, when 2010 hits, the LF-A will be released as the SC, and will be offered in a sub-$100,000 variation. This seems to be hinted at by Edmunds, and looks to me to be the most likely scenario.

More than anything, I can't picture Lexus letting the SC name die.

Toyota's Open Road blog has posted a clarification concerning last week's report that three hybrids would be introduced at the 2008 Detroit Auto Show:

A report in Monday’s news indicating that Toyota might be showing a new third hybrid car at the Detroit show was the result of an apparent misunderstanding.

We’d like to clarify this: We will show one Toyota hybrid and one new Lexus hybrid.

The apparent misunderstanding was some quotes from Masatami Takimoto, the executive vice president in charge of R&D, who said that the new Toyota would be "a totally new car" and larger than the Prius.

I wonder then, could Takimoto have been talking about the new Lexus?

Although Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe announced that a new Lexus dedicated hybrid would be introduced way back in January, Toyota made it official-official in an Automotive News article released today:

Toyota Motor Corp. on Wednesday fired a fresh volley in the green car wars, promising two new hybrid vehicles and the start of lithium-ion battery production next year.

The two hybrids--one badged a Toyota, the other a Lexus--will debut at the Detroit auto show and come on top of the third-generation Prius car, also due in 2009.

Toyota didn’t give further details about the upcoming vehicles. But Masatami Takimoto, executive vice president in charge of r&d, said the Toyota will be larger than the Prius.

“It’s a totally new car,” Takimoto said in Tokyo.

It's been long expected that this new Lexus hybrid would be a rebadged Toyota Prius, but this new quote from Takimoto makes me think otherwise. Instead, it's quite possible that this new Toyota hybrid might be the closer relation.