Toyota Motor Corp. introduced two top-of-the-line Lexus LS sedans in Japan on Thursday, hoping the cars' hybrid technology will accelerate the automaker's efforts to establish Lexus as a premium brand on the world stage.
"We combined the hybrid technology and all the other cutting-edge technologies currently available to make the LS hybrid models," Toyota President Katsuaki Watanabe told a news conference at a Tokyo hotel.
The two Lexus models — the LS 600h and the LS 600hL — are equipped with a new hybrid system that combines a high-powered electric motor and a full-time all-wheel drive system, the first of its kind, according to Toyota.