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Lexus

At this years Tokyo Motor Show the Lexus LFA has been revealed and already been confirmed for a one-off production run of 500 cars.

The brand’s first grab for supercar territory with a carbon-fibre body carrying a Formula One-inspired V10 engine that gets it to 100km/h in just 3.7 seconds and to a top speed of 325km/h – is tipped to arrive with a price tag of more than $500,000.

But that’s unlikely to bother those locals who have already put their hand up for the car, according to Lexus Australia boss John Roca. “It’s being touted at about US$375,000, but we’ve heard the equivalent of close to $750,000 … that kind of price didn’t shake anybody off the tree,” Roca says. “Our wishlist is to get five to 10 cars. We are going into negotiation on volume for Australia, but in the initial discussions it was not hypothetically slated for Asia because of projected demand from other markets. We’ve asked for expressions of interest, and even in these difficult times they have come in.”

Mazda

Mazda2 is likely to be the first new model to gain the Japanese company’s new range of ‘Sky’ engines and automatic transmissions.

The company debuted its small Kiyora ‘Sky Concept’ car at the Tokyo Motor Show. It is 100kg lighter and about 25cm shorter than the Mazda2 and features the more efficient Sky-G (gasoline) engine and Sky-Drive automatic transmission.

While Sky project boss Nobuhiro Hayama would not say which vehicles would be the first to receive the Sky-G or Sky-D (diesel) powertrains with Sky-Drive, he said they would be introduced as new models came to market. The Mazda2 is possibly the next new model and is about the same size as the concept car.

Sky-G features direct injection technology and has 15 per cent more torque and 15 per cent better fuel economy than current petrol engines, matching current levels of their diesel engines. The Sky-D diesel engines would also have better fuel economy and lower CO2 emissions at ‘significantly’ lower costs, he said. The Sky-drive transmissions would be lighter and smoother.

Toyota

The New Toyota Sai, a medium-sized sedan is scheduled to go on sale overseas next year, but with a price point set higher than the Prius, starting at 3.38m yen ($40,500) for the base model, and topping out at 4.26m yen ($50,990) for the Sai Sportivo.

The car is based on the Lexus HS 250h platform and carries the identical drivetrain, a 110kW/187Nm 2.4-litre four-cylinder petrol engine working in tandem with a 105kW/270Nm electric motor charged from a nickel-metal hydride battery, giving a combined power of 140kW.

The bodies of the two cars look very similar, and the main differences between the two are pretty much only in the styling of details, with the Sai’s nose and light clusters looking a little more conservative than the Lexus, even in the Sportivo version we saw dressed with TRD alloy wheels.

However – like its Lexus twin – we’re unlikely to ever see the Sai in local showrooms as there’s already a booking for the mid-sized hybrid sedan slot. “We can’t sell it alongside the locally-built Camry Hybrid,” says Toyota spokesman Patrick Lyons.

At one stage the Lexus was slated for Australia, but the right-hand drive development plan was axed last month because it could not be certified for sales in Europe and there was insufficient demand from other right-hand drive countries.