Lexus isn't letting up.
Six years ago, Toyota's conservatively-dressed luxury brand went full punk with its 2015 NX. The compact SUV threw caution to the wind, stepping out of the shadow of fashion mavens like Audi and Merc and redefining its style with slashing bodywork and a face only Darth Vader could love. Lexus called it the spindle grille; I called it a giant bug zapper.
It put Lexus on the map for a new generation of buyers, and the NX's polarizing style has been followed by subsequent models in the lineup. When I first tested the NX in 2014, I assumed the "look-at-me" design would be temporary, writing:
