Petaling Jaya, 6 January 2009 – Lexus Malaysia introduced today the upgraded variants of the IS 250 which was first launched locally in 2007. These two new variants come with updates to refresh the exterior and the interior as well as enhancements in terms of comfort, convenience, performance and safety.

“We wanted to engineer a car that would appeal to drivers not only on a personal and individual level, but to appeal to the sensory satisfaction of the driver on an emotional and active level,” said Kuah Kock Heng, Managing Director, UMW Toyota Motor and Lexus Malaysia Sdn Bhd.

“In 2008, we sold 67 units of the IS 250 and have forecasted a 30 % increase for 2009,” he added.

The rear wheel drive IS 250 has a DOHC 24-valve 2.5-litre V6 petrol engine with an aluminium die-cast cylinder block and intake manifold. It has the D4 direct-injection technology which produces very high injection pressure to develop 153 kW/205 bhp at 6400 rpm and the torque of 252 Nm at 4800 rpm.

For the interior, two trims are available with the leather finishing for the standard variant and leather with wood finish for the Luxury variant. It is also equipped with Lexus Vehicle Dynamics Integrated management (VDIM), a new concept of vehicle kinematics control and automatic transmission. This form of vehicle stability control helps the driver retain control of the car in slippery conditions by automatically applying the brakes to counteract understeer or oversteer and at the same time, adjusting engine torque to match.

The price is RM270,000 on-the-road without insurance for the standard variant and RM305,000 for the Luxury variant.