It has been something of a downward spiral for the auto show circuit and, indeed, of the traditional ‘Big Five’, only Detroit, Paris, and Tokyo are still standing. The latter, rebranded as the Japan Mobility Show (JMS) since 2023, seems to still be living up to the prestige of the past. The Tokyo Motor Show, as it used to be known, was always a futuristically minded platform, and it seems that mentality has fared better in the current era, wherein the automotive industry has been evolving at an unprecedented rate. The rebrand alone is a sign of its willingness to adapt.
It is not unexpected, then, that Toyota Motor Corporation went full visionary at JMS 2025. This October, the group’s consumer brands—Toyota, Lexus, and Daihatsu—were cosied away in their own wing at the South Halls of the Tokyo Big Sight convention centre. And it was a total showcase of concepts—for cars, and other things too.
It was especially an opportunity for Lexus to flex some of its design muscle, giving off a very different and much more ambitious vibe than the generally rather conservative nature of its typical offerings. Across a range of genres, from sports cars to luxurious people-carriers and beyond, the Lexus concepts sought to redefine the preconceptions of each format.
“To me, this is really significant for a couple of reasons. It’s the first time we’ve created a whole ecosystem for a luxury brand and, number two, this is really design-driven,” said Ian Cartabiano during a tour of the Lexus booth. Cartabiano is president of CALTY Design Research, one of the group’s in-house design studios, based in the United States. “Everything you see today is powered by the design group really trying to create a vision of the future that takes it away from being traditional, and trying something new and challenging. Maybe some people don’t get it, but we think it’s time to take some risks. As a designer, it’s what keeps my job fresh. If I were doing the same thing every day (for the 28 years I’ve been with the group), I would not be here with you today. And we’ve never done anything like this.”
The surprise unveiling of Century as a global brand, which until now had been a quiet, Japan-only line of Toyota’s ultra-luxury cars, also presents intriguing possibilities for Lexus. “Century moving the pinnacle of the (group as a traditional upmarket offering), allows Lexus to be exciting and to try to take some risks,” Cartabiano mused. “So, everything you see today is all about taking the brand in that new direction.”
Lexus Sport Concept
The Sport Concept was one of three principal vehicles showcased by Lexus. “I don’t really need to say much about this car. With a sports car, you should be able to just look at it and feel that it looks great,” Cartabiano explained. “It’s all about a beautiful form that hugs the wheels at all four corners. We also integrated full aero control into this design, but not in a tacked-on way like a Formula One car. All of the aerodynamic control and the airflow on this vehicle is beautifully integrated into the overall form language.” Indeed, the Sport Concept is all curves and athletic muscle. It was first unveiled earlier in the year at Pebble Beach but, for JMS 2025, it gets a fully updated interior. The driver’s side is a streamlined cockpit, with a steering yoke and wraparound screen mounted just above it. Glass roof sections above both driver and passenger make it feel exceptionally airy for a coupe.
It also houses a drone that can be launched at speed, and links with the car to provide telemetry while on the track and can even provide assistance such as suggested braking points or racing lines in real time—the sort of thing that seems improbable, but is also tantalisingly possible with today’s rapidly advancing technology.
“My favourite thing is the rear shoulder,” Cartabiano added. “Designers love rear shoulders. Because it makes the car look strong, really emotional, and really beautiful. The wing is artfully integrated into that shoulder.” He also pointed out a discrete tunnel in the rear pillar that directs airflow from the front and sides and out over the rear wing. “It’s air control that’s also beautifully done, and I think that’s really great about Lexus. We care about those details, and we talk about details that are unseen. Those are equally as important to us.”
One of the details that can be seen is the high-speed brake lamp at the rear, a centrally mounted trio of lights arranged in a triangular pattern that is a callback to the triple exhaust of the legendary Lexus LFA.
Lexus LS Concept
When it was launched in 1989, ‘LS’ stood for ‘Luxury Sedan’, the pinnacle of the private passenger vehicle at the time and for decades after. For JMS 2025, ‘LS’ now means ‘Luxury Space’ and it takes the form of a minivan because, if you think about it, that is the format that provides the most space in all three dimensions. The sliding door opens to reveal a lounge interior that can be configured in a myriad of ways. The horizontal stripes on the exterior windows are mirrored on the inside by hand-made slotted bamboo strips that act as a shade, preserving privacy and comfortable temperatures, and were inspired by the sunblinds one might find in old homes in Kyoto.
The calling card of the LS Concept, however, is also the one feature that seems the least likely to make it into production—again, you never know—and that is its six wheels. Two at the front, like you might expect, and four smaller ones at the back. “Crazy, right? If we make the rear wheels small in the back, there’s no wheelhouse intrusion into the rear cabin. So, you actually can maximise space and create the ultimate interior expression. Additionally, it provides ultimate stability at speed, at braking, and at cornering, because it’s very stable. Plus, it just creates a really cool signature,” Cartabiano said, noting that the third axle reduces pitch and yaw, and makes for an especially serene driving experience.
Externally, the LS Concept is also rather monolithic in appearance—to the point of not even really looking like a car. “The exterior is very clean. It’s non-automotive and really inspired by architecture. It’s really important in a vehicle in an urban environment to be very sheer and very clean, because it reflects the environment around it,” Cartabiano explained. This philosophy extends to the front, where the Lexus Spindle Grille has been reduced to a minimalist suggestion of light bars. “It’s a very bold statement and very powerful. We want to make a statement in the urban environment, and one thing we tried to do, with evolving the Lexus Spindle identity, is to take it away from being a grille,” he said. “You’re not going to mistake this for anything else on the road and, I think, as a whole for the Lexus brand, you’re going to see that we’re trying to be innovative, avant-garde, adventurous, and challenging.”
Lexus LS Coupe Concept
“We talk about the 360-degree ecosystem, so there’s not one answer for what flagship works everywhere. But some customers want something completely different. So, we made a different type of flagship, and that’s the LS Coupe Concept,” Cartabiano said by way of introduction. The LS Coupe Concept is a crossover in every sense of the word, with a dual identity that is meant to seamlessly combine sportiness and comfort. “We have the interior space of an executive sedan with the style and driving performance of a coupe—in a package that’s actually more useful,” he elaborated. “The interior volume of this car actually exceeds an executive sedan in every dimension, but it’s wrapped in this really sexy styling.”
Although the driver’s seat is focused on performance—including a steering yoke and a set of nested screens—the passenger seat is meant for comfort, and the rear passenger seats take it even further. The rear bench seats can be divided into two bucket seats with a pop-up armrest, and Lexus’s takumi signature is evident in the handcrafted interior bamboo architecture, replete with raden mother-of-pearl inlays. Much of the external form has aerodynamic cues that can also be found on the LS Sport Concept, though here it terminates, shooting brake-style, into a vertical frame outlined by a rectangle of light. The LFA-inspired brake light trio is also here. Meanwhile, the boot is a pull-out drawer, one that can still carry four golf bags. The drone is also back, but here it is more lifestyle-oriented—enjoying the view, perhaps, via the rear passenger screens.
Lexus LS Micro Concept
There was a surprising breadth to Lexus concepts—designs extended to a house, a catamaran, and even a flying contraption. Still avant-garde but somewhat more in the brand’s traditional wheelhouse was the LS Micro Concept, a one-person last-mile haven that brings the ‘Luxury Space’ into the smallest possible footprint—and may be able to go where cars cannot, or are no longer allowed. Autonomously driven by necessity, it opens up like a jewellery box, with the single seat sliding forward as a welcome. “This was probably the most challenging concept, but one that I feel really passionate about,” Cartabiano said. “So, when you’re inside this vehicle, you feel like you’re in your own private luxury hotel suite. Yet, you’re travelling 50km/h across Tokyo from point-to-point.” The inside features gesture-controlled screens among a miniature landscape of glass and bamboo.
Externally, the LS Micro Concept follows the same strong architectural cues as its bigger brother, the LS Concept. “And again, it’s a strong motif, planted on three wheels, and again it just reflects the environment that it’s in,” Cartabiano explained.
