It’s about $40K cheaper than before and EV sales are booming. So why isn’t the 2026 Lexus RZ expected to be a big seller?

There’s more gear, a bigger battery, it costs around $40K less than the original and the Aussie appetitite for EVs has never been higher – but Lexus is still only planning to sell only a few hundred of its RZ mid-sized electric SUV each year.

The updated Lexus RZ lands in Australian showrooms this week with a price cut that would have seemed unthinkable when the original launched in 2023.

The entry-level RZ500e Luxury opens at $84,500 – almost $40,000 less than its predecessor – making it one of the more dramatic luxury EV repricing events the local market has seen.

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Despite the price cut the updated RZ arrives with a larger battery, more power, longer range, faster charging and a new F Sport performance variant that brings the first-ever yoke steering wheel to Australian roads.

Yet for all that, Lexus Australia is forecasting annual sales of around 300 units for the year.

In a segment where the Zeekr 7X and various Tesla Model Y grades routinely shift thousands of units annually, it’s a number that raises an obvious question.

Lexus Australia chief Jack Hobbs doesn’t shy away from it.

“Production’s still relatively tight,” he told EV Central at the launch. “We think that there’ll be good demand for the product and we’ll continue to work with our team in Japan to try and get as many as we can.”

It’s a familiar refrain for Lexus. The brand’s GX and LX SUVs are both sitting on eight-to-twelve month wait times, and global demand for Lexus product is strong.

Hobbs says Australia is competing for allocation against markets around the world.

More Lexus RZ for less money

The price story is genuinely significant. When the original RZ launched locally, its combination of modest range and premium pricing drew criticism in a market moving fast on both fronts. Hobbs acknowledges the recalibration was deliberate.

“Certainly the technology and the efficiency in battery manufacturing is moving fast and that does help us with that repositioning,” he said. “But also the market’s also moving very fast. We need to position ourselves in that space.”

The hardware improvements back the new pricing up. The RZ 500e Luxury and Sports Luxury now carry a 74.7kWh battery — up from the previous unit — delivering a claimed 460km of WLTP range, a 16 per cent improvement. AC charging capacity doubles to 22kW, meaning a full charge in 3.5 hours, paired with 150kW DC fast charging via CCS2. Combined power from the dual-motor AWD system rises by more than 20 per cent to 280kW.

Suspension tuning, structural bracing and NVH refinement have all been reworked, and the full suite of Lexus Safety System and Connected Services tech is standard across the range.

Lexus RZ F Sport and its yoke steering wheel

The headline addition to the range is the RZ 550e F Sport at $105,000, which brings a larger 77kWh battery, 300kW of power and — most notably — a yoke steering wheel paired with Lexus’s steer-by-wire system. It’s the first time any car sold in Australia has offered steer-by-wire as standard, making it a genuine technological landmark regardless of brand.

Hobbs drove the car ahead of launch and was positive about how quickly the system becomes intuitive.

“It’s remarkably quick to get used to. I think it’s very intuitive and it doesn’t take long,” he said.

The yoke integrates paddle shifters for Lexus’s Interactive Manual Drive system, which simulates eight gears complete with throttle feel, G-forces and engine sounds — an unusual but characterful feature in a pure-electric performance car.

One thing that’s disappeared

There is one notable omission from the previous RZ ownership package.

Lexus on Demand – the service that gave RZ owners access to a national fleet of loan vehicles, including some of the swankiest in the Lexus showroom – is no longer part of the deal.

It’s a meaningful cut to what was a genuinely distinctive ownership perk, and one that gave the RZ a serious point of difference against newcomers from China – and anything from traditional luxury brands.

All new RZ buyers do receive a three-year complimentary Lexus Encore membership, covering 24/7 roadside assist, a service loan car and access to exclusive dining and entertainment experiences.

Lexus looking to grow EV sales

The RZ update lands as Lexus ramps up its BEV ambitions locally.

Alongside the RZ, the brand is forecasting that pure electric vehicles will account for around 5 per cent of its total Australian sales by the end of this calendar year, with a second BEV – the next generation ES sedan – arriving within months.

A few hundred RZs won’t trouble Tesla’s monthly tally.

But Hobbs frames this year as an EV building block.

“This year’s the debut,” he said. “We’ll definitely see how things go. Early signal is that there’s some quite good interest out there. So we’ll take it as we go month by month and see how it builds.”