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Lexus still planning seven-seat crossover

In case you're thinking, "But Lexus already has a seven-seat crossover in the GX 460," that's actually a proper SUV - the body-on-frame kind with the massive footprint and floaty handling. A report in Automotive News says that Lexus is trying to figure out how to produce a true crossover with space for seven humans, with the options narrowed down to growing the RX (pictured) or sorting out a brand new model.
How badly does the brand want it? Its chief told AN that another row is first on the list of dealer requests, that the offering could be worth 35,000 more sales per year and they don't care if it eats into five-seater RX sales - "We want it." But hey, when 40 percent of monthly sales are made up of the RX, and Lexus moved more than 103,000 of them in 2013, it's understandable that the company wouldn't mind risking a small hit for the chance to increase sales by a third of their current levels.
Toyota applied to trademark the name TX and that's already been mooted in reports as a replacement for the GX, said to end its life in 2016. The latest report, however, suggests that the GX might not go away since it's "highly profitable for the automaker, even at low volumes," and that "TX coding could merely be for a seven-seat variant of the RX 350." AN also wonders if this larger hauler would stay on the recently lengthened Toyota Highlander platform, which offers meager third-row seating, or switch to the rear-wheel-drive platform used by the IS and GS for tauter responsiveness. With Lexus saying it will be at least two years before it could be brought to market, we have a while to wait yet to find out.

Lexus previews production NX crossover ahead of Beijing debut

Every luxury automaker and its sister company is getting into the compact crossover game these days. Mercedes has the GLK and even smaller GLA, Audi has the Q3, BMW the X1... even Porsche is getting in on the action with the new Macan. Lincoln has the new MKC, and it won't be long before Infiniti and Acura launch challengers of their own. But before they do, Lexus will roll out its new NX crossover.
Previewed by the LF-NX concepts first in Frankfurt and then in Tokyo, leaked in a corporate presentation and spied testing out on the open road, Lexus is slated to present the production NX at the Beijing Motor Show later this month. But to keep us on our toes, the Japanese luxury automaker has released this teaser image and brief statement.
From the looks of it, it appears that Lexus has hardly toned down for production the anime-worthy sharp creases that made the LF-NX stand out on the show floor, with the brand's signature spindle grille featuring prominently once again. Though we'd guess the finished product will be toned down somewhat. Toyota's luxury division also says "the NX will set new standards for future models in the line-up," meaning that we can expect the design theme to carry through to more models to follow.

Autoblog Podcast #339

Farewell, Zach Bowman; Pikes Peak 2013; Datsun; 2014 Ram lineup
Episode #339 of the Autoblog Podcast is here, and it's the last rodeo for Zach Bowman before he departs for other pastures. The crew this week consists of Dan Roth, Zach Bowman and Jeff Ross, who talk about the astounding records set at this year's Pike's Peak hill climb, the return of the Datsun brand name and the recently-announced 2014 Ram truck lineup. Of course, we start with the garage and end with your questions and comments. For those of you who hung with us live on our UStream channel, thanks for taking the time. You can follow along after the jump with our Q&A. Thanks for listening!
Autoblog Podcast #339: