2023 Lexus RX, electric RZ to debut toned down ‘spindle grille’ design

With its 2030 RX and electric RZ vehicles, Lexus will usher in a new era of its toned down ‘spindle grille’ design. The move comes after the carmaker's American market research revealed that the large and more pronounced spindle grille was a “turnoff" for the customers who felt that the Lexus vehicles need to strike a balance in terms of design and execution, the company's global design chief Koichi Suga told Automotive News.

He added that some people even compared the brand's spindle grille design to an electric shaver as well as the monster from the Predator film series. He, however, maintained that the spindle shape of the grille will stay , and that it has always been based on functionality rather than just a design statement as the large grille helped cool down the hot engine under the hood.

Suga added that with the onset of electrification, the brand has got a lot of leeway in terms of styling as there is no engine under the hood that needs to bee cooled down. “We want to maintain the spindle shape itself. But the spindle has always been based on functionality of what’s happening under the hood," Suga told the publication.

In the new toned down style, Lexus will be able to incorporate the grille into the design for a complete spindle body style. In such a shape, the basic shape of the grille will remain as it is but the lines between the sheet metal have now been blurred.

In the design of the 2023 RX, the leading edge of the hood has more prominent while the top corners of the spindle shape now blend into the body. In case of the all-electric RZ, the fascia has been filled in with the exception of a small opening just above the splitter, and yet the spindle shape is still prominent.