I just don't see how this is any different than what Mercedes et all have been doing. Whats worse is we had a piece just the other day where lexus was praised for NOT doing this...
Todd Turner, analyst with Car Concepts who drove the new NX at the media introduction here, said Lexus' split image of luxury and sportiness "makes more sense than what Mercedes is doing by going downmarket."
"The sportier vehicles will influence the less-sporty luxury stuff," Turner said. "Lexus is maintaining the integrity of the brand."
There was some grumbling that the GX may be killed and rightfully so, they sold 12K of them last year, WELL down from its 2004 peak of 35K. Mind you it has kicked out 11K or about sales since 2011.^ that's a great way to put it,
Lexus almost has no choice but to upscale the RX, pushing it up segment is what they can to do ensure the future success of the badge.
But with that, wouldn't it overlap to the GX, people might see the GX as a waste of money since you can go for the RX which is likely going to share some similarities and still be cheaper to run.