Britain’s first Lexus 7-seater will cost from £50,995

The RX 450h L means you and six people can come along for the ride

Lexus RX 450h LLexus owners have never been able to take more than four friends or family along for the ride. Until now; with the launch of the RX 450h L, the Japanese premium brand is offering a three-row seven-seater model in the UK for the first time.

Priced from £50,995, the new hybrid SUV goes on sale this week, in a three-model range that should broaden the appeal of one of Lexus’ more popular cars – and also better compete with rivals such as the Volvo XC90 and Audi Q7 (both of which also come in fuel-saving hybrid guise).  

The RX isn’t a plug-in hybrid, but this isn’t necessarily a negative, reckons Lexus: it describes the 450h as a ‘self-charging hybrid”. It’s not a mere conversion job of the existing model, either – the entire body aft of the rear wheels has been extended to slot in the third row of chairs.

Lexus RX 450h L

Lexus promises the seats “offer good head and legroom and are easy to access”. All models have a standard power-folding system for the third row chairs, and there’s triple-zone climate control as well.

The £50,995 RX 450h L SE includes heated and ventilated leather seats, sat nav, 18-inch alloys, power steering wheel adjust, power tailgate and LED headlights. A £54,095 Luxury ups the alloys to 20-inches, and adds better premium sat nav, wireless smartphone charging, ‘triple-eye’ LED headlights and a smart tailgate.

Lexus RX 450h L

Living up to its name, the £61,995 Premier has a colour head-up display, adaptive suspension, semi-aniline leather, Mark Levinson surround sound system, sunroof, heated middle row seats and a fancy heated steering wheel with wood inserts. Those in the back also get sunshades, so they can pretend to be celebrities.

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Richard Aucock
Richard Aucockhttps://www.richardaucock.co.uk/
Richard is director at Motoring Research. He has been with us since 2001, and has been a motoring journalist even longer. He won the IMCO Motoring Writer of the Future Award in 1996 and the acclaimed Sir William Lyons Award in 1998. Both awards are run by the Guild of Motoring Writers and Richard is currently vice chair of the world's largest organisation for automotive media professionals. Richard is also a juror and Steering Committee director for World Car Awards and the UK juror for the AUTOBEST awards.

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