To Lexus customers who might be reading this, here’s a question for you: Do you have a great need for an electric Lexus pickup in your multi-vehicle garage? Because if enough of you share that thought, Lexus might just go ahead and make one.
Australian publication Drive reports that Takashi Watanabe, global boss of Lexus, said a fully-electric Lexus truck is a possibility if there is enough customer demand. The model, however, will not be based on already-existing Toyota pickups like the Tacoma or the Tundra: While Toyota is in charge of developing the brand’s trucks, Lexus, as the luxury division of Toyota, will have a bigger role to play in the group’s electrification efforts.
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“Lexus has a different role to play as a brand compared to Toyota and that would be true also for [Gazoo Racing],” Watanabe said in a roundtable discussion with international media. “However, in the future we will be driving [electric vehicle development for the Toyota group], and in so doing, we want to be able to offer as many options as possible.
“If there is a strong need from consumers...for Lexus to release or launch a pickup...it’s a matter of a possibility in the future. We will not deny [customers] a Lexus pickup, but as of now we have no such discussions.”
Toyota has an all-electric Hilux in the works, set to be released by 2026 to go against the likes of the electric Strada. More upmarket electric trucks currently on sale are the Ford F-150 Lightning and the competing Chevrolet Silverado EV, the GMC Hummer EV pickup, and of course, the Tesla Cybertruck. Think something like a GX-faced pickup will give them a run for their money?
