From Luxury Sedan to Six-Wheeled Van
The next Lexus LS won’t be a sedan. Instead, it’s going to be an electric six-wheeled minivan – far from the nameplate that fronts Japanese luxury. The LS concept, set to appear at the Japan Mobility Show, stands for something entirely different: “Luxury Space” instead of “Luxury Sedan.”
Akio Toyoda himself is behind the idea of giving it six independently powered wheels. His reasoning is simple: smaller tires allow for more cabin space, which in turn expands what Lexus can offer as a flagship experience. It’s a strange but deliberate move for a company that’s long used the LS as a statement of innovation.
But here’s the thing – this isn’t Toyota’s first go at six-wheel design. The company has already explored the layout before, just not on Earth. That earlier experiment is called the Lunar Cruiser, a manned pressurized rover jointly developed with Japan’s space agency, JAXA.
Toyota
Toyota’s Six-Wheeled Lunar Experiment
The Lunar Cruiser is an ongoing project that takes Toyota’s engineering far beyond roads and highways. Built to operate on the moon’s hostile surface, it measures over six meters long and features six independently driven wheels designed to conquer rocks, craters, and fine regolith dust.
Powered by regenerative fuel cells derived from Toyota’s hydrogen tech, the Lunar Cruiser can travel 26 kilometers per day and aims for a 10,000-kilometer lifespan. Inside, astronauts can live and work without spacesuits, thanks to life-support and temperature-control systems that maintain Earth-like conditions.
Its design even borrows from Toyota’s heritage – round headlights and grille elements reminiscent of the American Land Cruiser, the new Land Cruiser FJ, and the subsequent Baby Lunar Cruiser revealed in 2023. In other words, even when Toyota builds for the moon, it can’t resist giving it that Cruiser feel.
Toyota
The Logic Behind Six Wheels
The new Lexus LS Concept may look otherworldly like the Lunar Cruiser, but it stays grounded to the idea of luxury through utmost comfort. With a boxy body and vertical LED lights, and a flat roofline, it looks like a lounge on wheels rather than a car. The six-wheel setup is there to maximize cabin space, valuing comfort over performance.
Chairman Toyoda is set on the idea behind the LS Concept: Lexus’ next flagship goes beyond outpacing rivals. It aims to redefine what “flagship” means. As electrification reshapes vehicle design, Lexus sees its future in a spacious, serene, and possibly six-wheeled form.
We’ll get to see the new LS Concept in the metal at the 2025 Japan Mobility Show, so stay tuned.
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