Lexus is increasing customer choice with a refreshed and extended range of its battery electric UX 300e luxury compact SUV.
The new-look line-up offers additional grades and adjusted equipment specifications, together with styling changes for the cabin.
The renamed entry point to the UX 300e is Urban grade opening at £39,995. Key standard features include 17-inch alloy wheels, power adjustable front seats, a heated steering wheel, wireless smartphone integration (wireless Apple CarPlay and wired Android Auto), reversing camera and the Lexus Link Connect multimedia system with cloud-based navigation and eight-inch touchscreen. A seven-inch digital diver’s instrument display is new to the UX 300e. The latest generation Lexus Safety System+ active safety and driver assistance systems are also included in the package.
The new Premium grade further provides rear privacy glass, illuminated door handles with puddle lights, front and rear parking sensors, a driver monitor, Smart Entry, power back door, LED front fog lights and roof rails at £41,995.
The £43,995 Premium Plus UX 300e benefits from 18-inch alloys, aluminium scuff plates, an auto-tilt function for the door mirrors when reversing, a wireless smartphone charger, Tahara synthetic leather upholstery, heated front and outer rear seats and front seat ventilation. Additional safety features include Safe Exit Assist, Blind Spot Monitor and Rear Cross Traffic Alert with auto-braking. The rear hazard lights have an auto-flashing function if the UX detects the risk of an impact from an approaching vehicle.
Premium Plus Tech is another new grade, which, as its name implies, focuses on additional technology features. These include the Lexus Link Pro multimedia system with embedded navigation (in addition to the cloud-accessed navigation) and a 12.3-inch display, 13-speaker Mark Levinson Surround Sound audio system and a 12.3-inch driver’s digital instrument display beginning at £46,495.
At the top of the range the Takumi version from £50,995 maximises the specification with smooth leather upholstery, a 360-degree Panoramic View Monitor, hands-free power back door, head-up display, sunroof and three-eye LED headlights with Adaptive High-beam System.
In addition to the new digital instrument displays, the interior surfaces have been gently reshaped and given a higher quality feel, with a new gun metallic paint finish. The supple new Tahara synthetic leather upholstery is available in Black, Hazel and White Ash colour ways, while Ammonite Sand is a new option for the Takumi model’s smooth leather. For the exterior the paint choices now include a Sonic Copper special metallic option.
Honda has revealed a one-of-a-kind Civic e:HEV sprayed in the world’s most silver paint to celebrate 25 years since the brand launched Europe’s first ever hybrid model – the Insight – in September 1999.
To celebrate its hybrid silver jubilee, Honda painted the Civic in a specially made batch of unique silver paint created by renowned artist and colour champion, Stuart Semple.
The inventor of the world’s Silveriest Silver, alongside the Pinkest Pink, Goldest Gold and Blackest Black, supplied the paint for the one-off anniversary edition through his studio, Culture Hustle.
With a passion for working with only the best materials, Stuart creates his paint using 64% real silver flakes and pigments blended in an acrylic suspension. The paint can be smoothly applied to all surfaces and gives the appearance of solid gold or silver metals, enabling artists to create work that is a real representation of these colours.
Once the paint had been mixed, it was handed to the custom fabrication specialists at The Syrup Room in Bournemouth UK, to apply to the Civic. Over three days, its team of expert sprayers cleaned and prepared the car’s bodywork in carefully climate-controlled conditions before administering multiple layers of specialist protective and removable paint. Finally, high precision spraying equipment was used to apply the final coats of Silveriest Silver to create the unique celebratory Civic.
The Car Expert, a leading UK automotive consumer advice platform with an annual readership of over two million, has issued its formal commentary on the landmark ruling by the UK Court of Appeal. The ruling, issued on Friday 25 October, favoured three consumers in cases against Close Brothers and Firstrand Bank, who allege they were mis-sold car finance.
With previous experience speaking on a range of UK-based driver and car industry issues on national and international broadcast and interviews, Stuart Masson, Editorial Director at The Car Expert has issued his official comment on the story: “This ruling [from the UK Court of Appeal] marks a significant precedent that extends far beyond car finance. It has reinforced and proven that lenders and brokers have a duty of care to their customers and must ensure absolute clarity in all information provided. Aligned with the FCA’s ‘treating customers fairly’ principle, the ruling highlights a failure to meet these standards.
“While this decision is a positive step, the industry must go further by drafting finance contracts in plain English, free from legal jargon. However, the ruling may invite a wave of claims across diverse lending categories, potentially leading to substantial costs for lenders that could ultimately be passed on to customers. We don’t expect this to be a short story – this is going to go on for years – it might even be bigger than Payment Protection Insurance (PPI) scandal.”
Honda Financial Services in a statement said, “Following Friday 25 October’s Court of Appeal judgment regarding motor finance commissions cases, Honda Financial Services took the decision to pause funding finance business in order to assess this ruling. We apologise for any impact that this may have had on our customers and retailer partners during this time.
“We have now had time to review the situation and have been able to put in place interim measures to allow us to resume the funding of some finance business.
“If any of our customers have questions, or have been impacted by this, please contact Honda Financial Services on: 0345 128 8908.”
