Saar: It is longer, wider and slightly more affordable than its predecessor.

Lexus India has launched the all-new ES sedan in its 300h guise. It is priced at Rs 59.13 lakh (ex-showroom India), which is Rs 33,000 less than its predecessor. As before, it will be brought into India as a direct import because Lexus India doesn’t have an assembly plant ready yet. India has received the seventh-generation Lexus ES, which was globally revealed less than three months ago at the 2018 Beijing Motor Show.

The Lexus ES 300h rides on a new platform known as GA-K, which is a derivative of Toyota’s TGNA platform. Thanks to that, the seventh-gen ES is 66mm longer, 51mm lower and 46mm wider than before. The new platform has enabled Lexus to push the wheels closer to the corners, which has helped in carving out more space inside the cabin and shorter overhangs at either end.

In terms of features, the Lexus ES 300h comes with heated seats, 17-speaker Mark Levinson Pure Play sound system, a 7.0-inch LCD instrument panel with an analogue tachometer, head-up display, a 12.3-inch touchscreen infotainment system and wireless mobile phone charging. On the safety front, Lexus’ entry-level sedan in India gets features such as 10 airbags, hill start assist, vehicle stability control and an anti-theft system with break-in and tilt sensors.

Underneath, the hybrid powertrain features a 2.5-litre, 4-cylinder petrol engine which is coupled to an electric motor. The total system output is rated at 217PS and yet the sedan delivers a mileage of 22.37kmpl. The electrified power plant comes mated to an e-CVT (continuously variable transmission).

Size-wise, the Lexus ES 300h is the same bracket as the Mercedes-Benz C-Class, BMW 3 Series, Jaguar XE and the Audi A4. However, if you look consider the price of the Japanese saloon, it falls rights in the mix of the BMW 5 Series, Jaguar XF, Audi A6 and Mercedes-Benz E-Class. The biggest plus with Lexus is that it is the only sedan in its segment to have a hybrid under the bonnet. Although the Indian government doesn’t treat hybrids any differently, we have to give it to Lexus for bringing “Green” cars to our shores. That reason alone is enough for many environmentalists to ditch the European models and go with the Japanese.