Lexus just introduced a luxury minivan, but it’s probably off limits to Americans

Newspress

• Lexus introduced the brand’s first minivan on Tuesday at the 2019 Shanghai Motor Show.
• The Lexus LM will soon be available for sale in China and is designed to only be a posh family van, but it can also be optioned as a luxurious executive limo.
• It’s unlikely that Toyota, Lexus’s parent company, will ever offer the LM for sale in the US.
• The Lexus LM will be offered with either a traditional V6 engine or a four-cylinder hybrid. 
• Visit BusinessInsider.com for more stories.

On Tuesday, Lexus unveiled its first minivan at the 2019 Shanghai Motor Show. Dubbed the Lexus LM, the luxury minivan will soon be available for sale in China and a few other select markets in Asia. 

Toyota, Lexus’s parent company, is unlikely to ever bring the LM stateside as its US minivan strategy is focused on the Kentucky-built Sienna. 

Read more: Volkswagen is a showing off a new pickup-truck concept that could give America the cheap truck it has been waiting for.

The LM will be available in both four and seven-seat configurations. The seven-seat LM will feature second-row captain’s chairs with a third-row bench, perfect for use as a plush family hauler. The four-seat LM is more suited for executive limousine duties. 

Lexus InternationalIn four-seat limo guise, the LM will come available with reclining captain’s chairs, a 26-inch entertainment screen, a 19-speaker sound system, noise reducing glass, and an in-car refrigerator. 

The LM is based on Toyota’s Japanese market Alphard passenger van. However, the prominent spindle grille and chrome-accented body make this van unmistakably Lexus.

Power for the LM 350 will come a 3.5-liter naturally aspirated V6 while the LM300h will be powered by a 2.5-liter four-cylinder Atkinson Cycle engine paired with a hybrid drive system. 

The LM will be offered with both front-wheel-drive and all-wheel-drive. 

The 2019 Shanghai Auto Show will be open to the public from April 8 to April 25. 

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Source: Business Insider – bzhang@businessinsider.com (Benjamin Zhang)