Lexus CT200h 2011 News

 This competition closed at 11.59pm Wednesday July 13.The winners will be announced on Carsguide.com.au on Monday July 18. Stay tuned… SMS codes have been revealed! Check out our online gallery here.Vote now for your favourite Carsguide Car of the Show and you could win a Lexus CT 200h in Vermillion red with a leather enhancement pack. There is also a runner up prize of a $1,000 prepaid gift card to be won in each region.If you're at the 2011 Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne, note the codeword on the yellow sign next to your choice for Carsguide Car of the Show and sms it to 199 888 00.If you're not attending the show, check out the Carsguide Car of the Show gallery in your local Carsguide lift-out, in the following papers:The Daily Telegraph - Saturday 2 July, Friday 8 July & Saturday 9 July 2011Herald Sun - Friday 1 July, Saturday 2 July, Friday 8 July & Saturday 9 July 2011Courier Mail - Saturday 2 July & Saturday 9 July 2011The Advertiser - Saturday 2 July & Saturday 9 July 2011Northern Territory News - Saturday 2 July & Saturday 9 July 2011The Mercury - Saturday 2 July & Saturday 9 July 2011The Sunday Times - Sunday 3 July & Sunday 10 July 2011.Then SMS your name and the codeword for the car you want to vote for. SMS cost 55c per entry. The SMS numbers for each state are:NSW/ACT: 197 467 67VIC: 199 888 00TAS: 197 036 63QLD: 197 197 22WA: 199 882 00SA/NT: 199 199 03We will be showing the full gallery and code words on carsguide.com.au from Monday, July 11.However ALL voting will be by SMS. To make sure the choice of winner is entirely by a legal random selection, we cannot enable voting by email, letter or phone call.MAJOR PRIZELexus CT200h in Vermillion red with the Leather enhancement Pack including all drive away costs valued at $47,254.71.You could own one of the world's first luxury hybrid hatch! The CT 200h reinforces Lexus' commitment to innovation. Lexus Hybrid Drive delivers an unmatched balance between performance and environmental sensitivity for a driving experience that is pure enjoyment.Introducing the Lexus CT 200hFind a Lexus dealerRequest a brochureRequest a test drive Enhancement Pack 1 includes:Ivory Leather-accented trim.17-inch alloy wheels.Front-seat heaters.Reversing Camera & self-dimming mirror with the reversing camera image shown in the mirrorStandard specifications:100kW hybrid powerplant.Electronically-controlled Continuously Variable Transmission (E-CVT).Drive Mode Select (EV, ECO, NORMAL and SPORT).Eight SRS airbags.6 speaker audio.Full active safety package of ABS, Electronic Brake-force Distribution (EBD), Brake Assist (BA), Vehicle Stability Control and Traction Control.Emergency flashing brake lights.Daytime Running Lamps (DRL).Mood lighting around the Drive Mode Select dial and overhead illumination.Dual-zone climate control air conditioning.Hill-start Assist Control (HAC).Smart Start.Multi-Information Display (MID).Alloy wheels with Yokohama 'dB decibel E70' tyres.60/40-split fold rear seat with flat floor.Genuine leather steering wheel.Hydrophilic and heated exterior mirrors.Cruise control.Rear spoilerEngine immobiliser.RUNNER UP PRIZESSix lucky runner up winners will each receive a prepaid gift card to the value of $1,000 (one winner per the following regions will be drawn: NSW/ ACT, VIC, TAS, QLD, WA and SA/NT).Competition closes 23:59 (AEST) 13/07/2011. Competition is drawn at 14:00 (AEST) 14/07/2011 at Salmat Interactive, 100 Arthur Street,North Sydney, NSW 2060. Prize includes Lexus Hybrid CT200h Prestige in Vermillion Red with the Leather Enhancement Pack. For full terms and conditions click here. Authorised under NSW: LTPS/11/05505; ACT: TP 11/02335; VIC 11/1181; SA: T11/1180 *Call cost 55c (inc GST) per entry.

It's the first full electric car to get the maximum safety score, although a range of petrol-electric hybrids, including the Toyota Camry, which has just moved up in local testing, have managed a five

The app lets players challenge each other slot-car style, on virtual circuits, and switch between Sport and Eco driving modes to log the best lap times while bringing in a good fuel figure.The two players who finish with top scores overall on all the app’s tracks will get to face-off in person at the Australian International Motor Show in Melbourne on Sunday, June 19. The final winner will take the grand prize: a Lexus CT 200h.The two finalists will receive return flights to Melbourne from their nearest capital city and accommodation in the luxurious Crown Metropol.Lexus spokesman Peter Evans says the mobile app is “the perfect launch platform” for the all-new CT 200h. "The CT 200h is a completely new proposition for Lexus and brings with it a new, younger audience,” Evans says.“The addition of mobile applications to our marketing activity makes perfect sense.”The Lexus CT City Challenge app is available now at the following link: Lexus CT 200h on iTunes

The hybrid fight comes as Lexus uses the high-profile event to introduce its compact CT200h to local buyers, as well as the drivers who will compete in the 2011 celebrity challenge.Hybrids have run in Formula One, as well as major sports car races and some touring car events, but only in contests open to normal petrol-powered cars.No-one in a CT200h will be going for all-out efficiency at Albert Park, or running the car on pure battery power, but Lexus believes the AGP is an ideal way to change the green focus away from the efficiency of the Prius to the potential driving enjoyment of the CT."We want to show that hybrids can be sporty and they can be fun. This is a world first," says Lexus executive, Peter Evans. "We also think this is the single biggest bang-for-your-buck opportunity to launch a new car in Australia. It's an amazing platform with 4.6 million people at the peak television viewing and 310,000 spectators over four days."Evans avoids discussing the potential on-track carnage with the cars but promises a field with far more genuine celebrities than recent AGP celebrity contests."Our target is to try and get a new group. Not so much new faces, but different faces. So not someone like Guy Leech," he says."We want high-profile people. We're targeting a 50:50 mix of male and female and we're going for people who match the intended buyer profile, so younger and almost half will be women. Most will be under 40. We're still working to finalise the list and we'll announce that in Melbourne next week. We don't want a repeat of 2008 when the motocross racer Robbie Madison cleared out and won by half a lap."The celebrity race commitment will gobble the early supply of CT200h cars, although they will head to dealerships afterwards for promotional work and likely sale.Evans also promises a record number of chances for non-celebrity drivers to take part in the race."There will be 30 cars, 27 on track and three reserves. They will be made up of 24 cars representing our dealer sites, plus three competition cars. There will be a consumer competition, a dealer competition and a buyer's competition. If you sign a contract to buy a CT200H then you go into a draw to win a drive. There will also be two winners in the race, an outright and an index-of-efficiency prize."The celebrity race program will be run by retired Australian rally champions Neal Bates and Coral Taylor, who drove for Lexus in Targa Tasmania with an IS200. They will be responsible for everything from car preparation at Bates' race base in Canberra to the training and licensing of the celebrity drivers, although Lexus technicians will also be involved in maintenance of the cars during the AGP meeting.

After starting at the top end of the car business with its LS flagship and cascading down through the various categories, Lexus is finally ready with the most important car in its history.  The CT200h was unveiled at the Geneva Motor Show as a new-age compact hybrid but the bottom line is much more important - this is the Lexus rival to the Three.It will also go up against the baby 1 Series and the Audi A3, but the CT is intended to win significant sales and do the job that Lexus has not been able to do with the IS. The CT is expected to be a major sales success in Australia.  "More importantly, it's the type of car that will bring new customers to Lexus," says the chief executive of Lexus Australia, Tony Cramb, speaking in Geneva.  "I think the CT, with its performance and equipment, is more closely a competitor to the high-end 1 Series or A3s. It is not designed or engineered as a low-end car."But he admits the right prices are essential, with Lexus Australia aiming for something in the $55,000-60,000 range.  "We need to get it at the right price and that's something we're currently working on," Cramb says.The CT200h is part of the expanding Prius family, using a 1.8-litre petrol engine liked with a compact electric motor through a continuously-variable transmission. There are three driving modes - including Sport - but the car can only run for two kilometres on battery electric power.Visually, the CT is very close to the LF-Ch concept car unveiled by Lexus at last year's Frankfurt motor show.  But it sits on a new mechanical package - with a 2600mm wheelbase and basic luggage capacity of 345 litres - with MacPherson strut front suspension and a dedicated double-wishbone rear suspension which is much more advanced than the layout on the Prius.Inside, the CT uses the same asymmetrical dashboard seen in the show car. The dashboard is split into an upper display zone with a large LCD multi-display screen and a lower zone with the gearshift lever and a remote touch multi-function controller.CT production starts in December but Cramb is reluctant to discuss an arrival date in Australia.  “If we could get it from December production then I’d be very happen,” he says.  However, a more realistic goal is within 18 months.

Europe is back in business, celebrating the end of the global financial crisis that rocked the car world and drove the biggest of them all - General Motors - into bankruptcy.There were green shoots of happiness at the Frankfurt Motor Show in late 2009, but this week's Geneva Motor Show shows the same sort of excitement and promise of an early spring morning in Europe.Every carmaker has something new in Geneva, from full-blown production models to quirky concepts. The Swiss show is often dismissed as a sideshow but this time, with 25 new models as diverse as the Nissan Micra and Porsche Cayenne, there is serious action on every front.Carmakers are predictably focussed on green solutions to meet the challenges of fuel economy and CO2 emissions - with Fiat even showing a tiny two-cylinder engine for its funkoid 500 - but there is also room for fun.  How else do you describe a Honda city concept that looks like a 20th-century take on the unicycles used by Circe du Soleil acrobats?But even the green machines have turned mean as Ferrari shows its 599 Vettura Labratorio hybrid, although BYD from China balanced things with its fully-electric E6 hatch.Porsche also has its 918 supercar concept and both it and the Ferrari tap Formula One technology with KERS hybrid packs - that's Kinetic Energy Recovery System - to store energy for a quick, explosive boost of extra power.Porsche plans to put the 918 into production but, as yet, Ferrari is only using the super-special 599 - painted symbolically in green instead of the Italian brand's signature red - as a rolling labratory.  "We want to understand how to use this technology. We are not yet at the point to see it in a road going Ferrari," says Amedeo Felisa, Ferrari's CEO.The upbeat mood at Geneva is captured by the top man at Bentley, Dr Franz-Josef Paefgen, who says the reaction to his company's Mulsanne and Supersports models has filled him with confidence after a shocking 2009.  "There is a feeling that it is behind us," Paefgen says as super-wealthy Bentley buyers emerge from their GFC-proof bunkers.Walking the stands at Geneva I see green machines that are more than just concepts and plenty of choices for small-car buyers, from budget hatches to baby prestige cars like the Audi A1.  The little Audi gets a rousing reception, Volvo wins praise for the safety and styling of the new S60 sedan and the Alfa Giulietta - replacement for the 147 - raises more questions about the often-promised renaissance for the brand.Lexus shows a compact new CT200h hybrid that brings petrol-electric power to a new group of buyers, Mini has the Countryman with extra ground clearance and the basics for a World Rally Championship challenge in 2011, and the Mitsubishi ASX crossover - test driven this week by Peter Lyon near Tokyo - heads the Japanese contingent.For Alfa fans, the Giulietta is pitched at the Volkswagen Golf with a range of 1.4, 1.6 and 2.0-litre petrol and diesel engines.  BMW’s new 5 Series and a 4-litre six-cylinder X5 diesel creates a predictable buzz among SUV fans.Kia’s head of design, Peter Schreyer, lifts the wraps off the stylish new Sportage, which is due in Australia later this year, with the promise of both turbodiesel and petrol engines, as well as front and all-wheel drive.  The Sportage could be major hit for the Korean brand, matching the impact of the Hyundai ix35, when it goes on sale with an opener in the sub-$30,000 bracket.Ford leverages the first European appearance of its new Focus hatch in Geneva by unveiling the Focus wagon, which at this stage is a Europe-only car. Europeans are big wagon buyers and the wagon is expected to account for one-third of all Focus sales there.But the Focus wagon is only the halfway point - the fifth of 10 proposed models - using the same basic building blocks and the future includes a Focus electric car. Currently, the wagon, hatch, sedan and C-Max and Grand C-Max all share the same underpinnings.“We are now using our global resources to develop cars for all countries, including Australia,” says Ford's technical chief, Derrick Kuzak.  He also reveals the current Europe-only Kuga compact SUV and North American Escape will be replaced by a single global car, which could head to Australia, and hints that a hot performance Focus with a more-powerful version of Ford’s 2.0-litre Ecoboost turbo engine will also be available in Australia.Lexus uses Geneva to showcase its critically important CT 200h hybrid, which it hopes to become a volume player.  But the CT 200h is not the only car to push the green theme at the affordable end.Hyundai has the stylish turbocharged 1.7-litre i-flow concept sedan, which uses a lithium-ion battery pack with six-speed dual-clutch transmission, and it is joined by the ix35 FCEV hydrogen fuel-cell car and Opel’s Flextreme GT-E.Apart from Ferrari, Porsche shows off its GT3 R Hybrid - also with KERS - and 918 Spyder, both exploring the outer limits of hybrid drivetrains for race and road cars.  The Cayenne, along with the VW Touareg, share their hybrid debuts as Audi uses the first appearance of its baby A1 to reveal a full-electric E-tron concept that joins earlier R8-based plug-in supercars.Apart from the conventional petrol and diesel A1, Audi also adds the RS5 coupe to its A5 lineup and a hybrid A8 sedan. The RS5 gets a powerful 335kW/430Nm 4.2-litre V8, quattro all-wheel drive and seven-speed S-tronic dual clutch gearbox.Like the BMW-built Mini, Audi has several distinctly styled A1s on its stand. It says owners will have access to so much customisation that no two A1s will be exactly the same.Audi has the Mini firmly in its sights with an expected starting price around $33,000 for the A1, with a three-door car to kick of sales with a five-door and cabrio expected. The range-topper is expected to be an S version with a performance-tuned turbo four cylinder engine.Citroen springs one of the few real surprises of the show with its hot-pink Survolt sportscar while Giugiaro teams up with Proton to deliver a stylish hybrid city car.  The Survolt is a pure design fantasy with no likely production expected. The showcar did not even have an engine and Citroen says it has been designed to go electric.Apart from the sleek Citroen, two Italian styling houses - Pininfarina and Bertone - have show cars based on Alfa Romeo mechanical parts. Bertone returns to Geneva for the first time in two years with the Pandion 2+2 concept coupe and Pininfarina shows the two-seater 2uettottanta.Apart from the twin concepts, Citroen has the DS3 Racing as well as its DS High Rider three door, a pointer to the next-generation C4, which is due to be launched next year as a five-door.  The company will only build 1000 versions of the DS3 racing and the head of local importer Ateco Automotive, Neville Crichton, says he would like to bring a few to Australia but will initially focus on launching the DS range.“It certainly is a good looking thing,” Crichton says.  Mercedes-Benz continues to create a buzz at Geneva with its SLS Gullwing supercar but the F800 Style, a pointer to the next-generation CLS minus its cantilever rear doors, dominates the Mercedes stand and shares the limelight with the E-Class cabriolet.Fitting in the quirky category in Geneva is Aston Martin’s Cygnet hatch, a remake of Toyota’s iQ city car. The $50,000 makeover model will only be sold to existing Aston Martin customers.  Aston Martin boldly has the Cygnet right next to its four-door flagship sports car, the Rapide.