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A few weeks ago, Japanese car manufacturer Toyota sealed an agreement with Bavarian brand BMW to share hybrid technologies and engines to minimize the development cost of green vehicles. Under this agreement, come 2014 BMW will be supplying Toyota with their 2.0L and 1.6L 4-cylinder engines running on diesel.

A lot of people are also wondering if Lexus, the luxury brand of Toyota, will also get the diesel engines of BMW. As we know, Lexus is a BMW competition and naturally, the Bavarian brand would not give their engines to Lexus.

This was confirmed by an executive from Toyota Europe saying that the agreement with BMW does not entail BMW engines ending in the body of Lexus vehicles. The statement was supported by a recent interview of a German business paper with the development chief of BMW where he clarified that the diesel engines from their factories will not be used for the Lexus brand.

Experts in Germany also see that it will be wise for Toyota to position the Lexus brand as a leader in innovation gearing up to have more full hybrid vehicles and plug-ins to boost its sales. From January thru November of 2011, the European sales of Lexus was pegged at 24,623 compared to BMW’s 590,453 units for the same time.

The Los Angeles auto show became the launch venue of the latest generation of mid-size Lexus RX family vehicles. Among the noticeable changes and improvements integrated into the new line of Lexus RX vehicles are altered suspension, updated powertrains, and new designs.

The new hybrid models of Lexus RX have a 3.5-liter V6, which produces a total output of 295 hp. The new RX 450h has 27 more horses than the current RX model 400h that has a 3.3-liter engine. Aside from the hybrid system’s new inverter, Lexus has also integrated two additional systems to improve engine efficiency: an exhaust-heat recovery system and an exhaust gas-recirculation system. The exhaust-heat recovery system shortens engine-warm up periods, while the gas-recirculation system helps lower gas expenses by cutting down on gas-pumping loss.

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