Lexus C-segment premium hatch due in 2011?

Lexus sales in Europe only commands 1% of the total market, but Lexus plans to hopefully increase this to 150,000 units a year by the year 2015. Spearheading this push is a new premium hatchback that’s now been confirmed by Lexus Europe managing director Tadashi Arashima, but a launch date has not been set yet. A tentative guesstimated launch has been set for 2011. Europe is quite fond of premium hatchbacks such as the BMW 118d that recently won the World Green Car of the Year award. The new Lexus hatch will rival the likes of that car, and the Audi A3.

Internally, the new Lexus hatchback is called the C-Premium. It’s development is in such early stages that it’s not quite sure at the moment whether it will be a rear wheel drive platform based on the IS, or a front wheel drive platform likely to be based on the Toyota Auris, which spawned a premium C-segment hatchback in Japan called the Toyota Blade.

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