• 

  The LF-Gh hybrid concept previews the look of the upcoming mid-sized GS but, more importantly, signals an all-new design direction for the brand.

• More from the 2011 New York Auto Show
• VIDEO: Lexus LF-Gh on the road

The most American of all brands - Lexus - has opened the action at the 2011 New York Motor Show.

  On the eve of the Manhattan event, Lexus rolled its new hero car into the spotlight with the promise of a new design direction for the brand.

The LF-Gh hybrid concept previews the look of the upcoming mid-sized GS but, more importantly, signals an all-new design direction for the brand.  The 21st century signature item of every major brand - the 'face' - has been changed to a super-aggressive look built around a blacked-out 'spindle' shape in the nose.

Lexus has already used a watered-down spindle on the front of the CT200h which has just arrived in Australia, but the new look is intended to be much more aggressive and flows into everything from a more-elegant overall shape to a BMW-style kick around the rear side glass and a slashed-out tail lamp treatment.

The LF-Gh - no-one at the New York preview calls it a GS - is slightly longer and wider than the car it will replace and is likely to spark another F-branded performance push similar to the work already done with the compact IS-F.

It comes from a brand which was created for the USA in the late 1980s and its name is sometimes known - incorrectly - as a contraction of Luxury Export to the USA.

"The captivating design of the LF-Gh concept examines the possibility of balancing what are normally opposing qualities, such as style and functionality," he says.  For Australia, the LF is likely to morph into a GS sometime in 2010.

"It's pretty representative of the design direction for Lexus. The guys aren't saying it's definitely a GS yet," says Peter Evans of Lexus Australia, in Manhattan for the unveiling.  "It's the next iteration of the design language, the next development of L Finesse at Lexus."

The New York show car is very close to production ready, although its 20-inch wheels and rear-view cameras are unlikely to survive to showrooms. It even has a complete interior with production-style dashboard, although the car's windows are blacked-out to prevent anything beyond a sneak peak.