TOKYO — Lexus is returning to the droptop.
The Japanese premium brand confirmed this month that a convertible version of its flagship LC sports coupe will go into production "in the near future."
Lexus showed a prototype of the car, in a silver-and-black digital camouflage motif, at Britain's Goodwood Festival of Speed July 4-7.
"Long, low and lean, the LC convertible will share the coupe's athletic proportions but project its own, distinct identity," Lexus said in a release, adding that the convertible LC will give "a sense of completeness to the brand's flagship models."
The convertible expands the Lexus model lineup with some new eye candy. It will be the first droptop offered by Lexus since the IS C ended production in mid-2015. Before that, Lexus sold the now-discontinued SC convertible.
Lexus has been teasing a new convertible for years.
At the Detroit auto show in January, it previewed the upcoming car with the LC Convertible Concept. It showed the LF-C2 concept in 2014, playing with the idea of a convertible RC coupe. In 2008, it dangled the LF-AR, which conceptualized an open-air LFA.
Lexus offered scant details about the LC convertible, saying launch and markets would be announced later.
