The Insights of Lexus CT200h

There is a reason premium car buyers in the know generally avoid entry-level models. These are the people not interested in mere style over actual substance - in other words, they won't buy into fancy badges on a model lacking in equipment, power and worst of all, refinement. It is this minority segment that owns the mid- to high-end cars we all dream of owning someday.

Basic-tier luxury models, however, do serve an automaker's long-term purpose, which is to reel in the young, upwardly mobile and make them identify with the brand. If it works out, said manufacturer creates a potential pool of customers who will be back, hopefully, to purchase the more expensive models in the future.

It is this strategy that Lexus is banking on with the CT200h. It is a bold, if not outright risky, move - considering our local context. For not only is the Lexus CT200h a hatchback bereft of the proper boot that buyers here crave, it is also only available as a hybrid. Then there's the hatchback body style, which normally appeals to the youthful instead of the typically more mature (and well-heeled) Lexus clientele.

Lexus' game plan, however, seems to be succeeding, judging by the 70 pre-orders the CT200h received prior to its launch. In fact, such is Lexus' confidence that it expects the car to account for a third of all its Singapore sales in the near future.

It is a daring claim to make, but it all becomes clear once you approach the Lexus CT200h. Look past the startling Flare Yellow paint job featured in these pages (the red works way better) and you will be met by a sharp but elegantly styled hatchback with an arrow-like face and low-slung stance. Those knife-edged creases on the car's nose are probably the ones responsible for its low drag coefficient of 0.28 - it looks like they were put there to slice through the air.

The athletic cues continue down the hatchback's length, with subtle creases to give it an air of sportiness. While not as striking as the front, the rear end fortunately does not look like an afterthought - that element belongs to the rear passenger windows, which would have looked out of proportion to the ones in front if not for the additional "kink" behind them.

Certainly well intentioned is the Lexus CT200h cabin, which possesses a premium feel thanks to the smart cockpit and use of quality materials - some of which are particularly earth-friendly. Items such as the boot liner and floor carpets, for example, are made of a plastic containing up to 30 per cent organic material.

Ironically absent from the cars to be sold here, though, is the bamboo trim option. Its prevalence in Asian culture notwithstanding, bamboo also happens to be a very renewable wood source due to its ability to grow by as much as a foot a day.

Wonderfully present in this Premium variant, on the other hand, is the Mark Levinson audio unit, which now shows a marked improvement in terms of radio reception. Also available is the mouse-like Remote Touch controller for browsing the on-board systems. It's easy to use when switching between radio stations or your iPod tracks, but becomes cumbersome when you need to input a destination in the navigation menu. A touch-screen interface would have been better in this regard.

Also in need of improvement is the rear bench seat, which doesn't offer much headroom and is outright stingy when it comes to foot space beneath the front seats. Then again, given the car's compact size and the extra room occupied by the battery pack, the flat rear floor in the back can already be classified as an engineering feat.

What Lexus has further refined is the ultra-efficient 1.8-litre petrol electric drivetrain lifted straight out of the Toyota Prius. Already known for its ability to operate seamlessly, Lexus has developed it to the point where you can barely feel the engine starting up as you move off.

Volkswagen Malaysia has applied an exclusive mixture of automation and human skill in a system so effective that each new Volkswagen Golf GTI car, with countless feasible style variations, is often created to fulfill each customer's individual choices.

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Review of the Lexus CT200h

To start let's look at this new Lexus as a car and not a hybrid. Why? Well for 2011 Malaysians, especially urban city dwellers, the hybrid ownership proposition has moved up a few notches due to the exclusion of import tax on hybrid vehicles below 2-litre engine capacity for the 2011 financial year. This has reduced the price of hybrid cars by some 30-35% for 2011. This has allowed Lexus to sell the new CT200h from just RM 167,000.00. Lexus's sister company, Toyota has also managed to bring down the price of their world popular Prius hybrid to just RM 139,000.00. Now on an average day we can see at least 1 hybrid or 2 on Klang Valley roads in daily commute. In my neighborhood in Petaling Jaya alone the sightings are even higher at 5-6 hybrids a day.

We are testing the Lexus CT200h here and we want to bring you first its review as a 'CAR' as most buyers have looked at it as more a car than an environmental friendly vehicle. This is because its selling price allows many middle class Malaysians to own a luxury product which SHOULD be selling for near RM 230,000 plus. Therefore it is an alternative to the popular VW Golf TSI and Mazda3 Sport which costs just a smidgen lower. Both the golf TSI and Mazda3 are sexy well-built and stylish family hatchbacks, but the Lexus CT200h is also a sexy looking 5-door hatchback. It shares a similar nose to the Lexus IS250 and most of the interior bits. A flat squared off rear deck makes for a hatchback. It comes with 16-inch alloys, low profile tires, xenon lamps,, LED lamps and a contoured lower side sill that give it a perpetual body kit. It sits quite low on the ground with a hunkered down look and has a very sporty stance from all angles.

Stepping inside Lexus CT200h is easy as it has a keyless Go system with a car key in my pocket all three days never leaving the warmth of my inner pocket. Click the door handle to open and lock the car and the stop start ignition works with a quick fast click. The cabin is a leather filled cabin with good panel fit and finish but the lack of high quality plastics on the door grab handles and roof pockets leaves us disappointed with whole Lexus experience. Many plastic bits in the cabin have been borrowed from Toyota. Front seats are comfortable and the driver gets an electric seat with 3 memory positions. Rear passengers get 3 headrests but legroom is tight with the seat bottoms covering the hybrid battery pack. The dashboard is a kid's a delight as it lights up like a Christmas tree with 2 in dash colour schemes. 'Blue' for 'Eco' mode and 'Red' for sports mode. Just a twist of a knob and the whole drive experience changes. The gear shifter is a small little toggle which looks more at home in a Starship or a game console.

Like the Prius, the car starts initially using the battery only and there is an eerie silence for newbies to the hybrid world. Move along slowly and the CT200h will still run on battery mode and as the battery gets used up the engine starts up to keep its momentum. As you drive like any normal car, which is the right way to drive this car, the engine will switch on and off alternating with the battery to get the best possible fuel mileage for you. Under hard acceleration both the petrol engine and battery pack will work together to provide near 2.4-litre engine performance (similar to the Camry 2.4 but in a lighter shell). Move in heavy traffic in the city and the battery works most of the time sipping negligible fuel as the petrol engine kicks in just to charge the battery when needed. This is where the real savings of the CT200h shows as Klang Valley city traffic is mostly done in creeping mode under battery power.

The 9-speaker stereo is very decent sounding and there is a CD tray, USB connector and Ipod connectivity. Bluetooth phone connectivity works with your phone for hands free driving and there is little else you will need after buying Lexus CT200h.

So, how much fuel can this car save you? Well if driven in the daily Klang Valley traffic to and fro work and the usual weekend shopping spree with the family, look at a possible 15-20% savings on fuel. Drive it hard and fast in 'Sports' mode and don't expect much savings. But after all that has been said, the purchase proposition is really a no brainer as the 'subsidized' selling price just makes it very hard to ignore as long as you can afford the monthly payments. With a good loan package, middle class Malaysians can now enjoy luxury motoring whilst being eco-friendly.

Volkswagen Malaysia has applied an exclusive mixture of automation and human skill in a system so effective that each new VW Scirocco car, with countless feasible style variations, is often created to fulfill each customer's individual choices.

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