The Lexus HS250h Hybrid that went on sale in Japan in July 2009 has proven so popular that Toyota Motor Kyushu Inc will nearly treble its production by October.
According to reports in the Nikkei, there were 2,000 of Lexus’s first hybrid-only offering produced in July but remaining orders for the vehicle have reached 8.600 units – 17 times the monthly domestic sales target of 500. As a result, production of the vehicle will rapidly increase in the coming months.
So what makes the HS250h so special?
The car utilises Lexus’s first four-cylinder gas engine as well as the latest hybrid system. It includes a twin-cam Atkinson-cycle engine with variable valve timing with intelligence that alone has an output of 147hp. When this is combined with the hybrid drive motor, the HS250h generates 187 total system horsepower.
The vehicle has nearly zero evaporative emissions. Its next destination is the USA where it will go on sale later this month.
