Lexus LS600h series launches in Japan

LS600h and LS600hL launch in Japan today

Toyota is now selling the Lexus LS600h and the Lexus LS600h L in Japan, and the hybrid will soon find its way into other countries soon. Beginning at $80,300* for the LS600h and $84,850 for the longer wheel-based LS600h L, the LS600 series will be the most expensive Toyota vehicle sold outside of Japan.

"This car takes the concept of luxury beyond the conventional parameters and into the 21st century," President Katsuaki Watanabe said at the car's launch in Tokyo.

Reuters notes, "Pulling out all the stops on the car it calls the "Flagship of Lexus", Toyota packed the LS600h/LS600hL with several new components and systems including a 5-litre V8 engine, full-time all-wheel-drive and a high-output electric motor. The result, Toyota says, is a car with the power and acceleration of a 6-litre engine but half its carbon dioxide emissions."

* Other reports claim the LS600h will start at $124,000, possibly due to import tariffs, taxes, etc. into the U.S., where as the numbers above are Japanese prices.