Remember when the Lexus LS 600h was on the way, and there was head-scratching aplenty about the $100K+ price and the delay? At the time, Lexus said it only planned to sell 2,000 of the hybrid cruisers per year, and that they already had orders for 1,650 of them.

Then the car came out, and in spite of being treated rather unkindly by the motoring press and boasting a less-than-stellar MPG improvement, it has sold 6,093 worldwide through October. The car only went on sale in July.

Lexus calls the car the “progressive person’s alternative.” The New York Times called the car the “new standard for automotive hyperbole.” Read more »

The Lamborghini Reventón has been named L’Automobile più Bella del Mondo. Translation: The World’s Most Beautiful Automobile.

It earned this honor in the Special Models category of this annual automotive fashion show, recently held for the fifteenth time at the Castello Sforzesco in Milan, Italy.

There are eleven categories in all, though the Special Models category is generally considered to be the big winner. Other cats include your various sizes of sedans, coupes, convertibles, station wagons, crossovers, sports cars and concept cars. Read more »

Toyota launched the most expensive Lexus to date–the LS600hL hybrid luxury sedan–in Japan. Fully loaded, it costs a pricey 15.1 million yen ($126,000) and is easily the most expensive Japanese brand passenger car on the market.

Just as important, it’s also another warning shot to Mercedes Benz and BMW that Toyota is deadly serious about eating away at their share of Japan’s luxury car market.

While Toyota dominates its domestic auto market with over 40% share, European car makers have long been the place to go for wealthy car buyers looking for sophistication. Read more »