The car was only confirmed with right-drive a few hours before its world debut at the Detroit Motor Show as it was touted as Lexus' first dedicated hybrid and a new American icon.
It instantly became a top-rated target for local showrooms, where it would sit just above the IS250 starter car with a price in the $60,000 to $70,000 range.
"With that information, it now gets onto our list of cars for consideration," says Peter Evans of Lexus Australia at the show.
"There is no plan for Australia at the moment. Absolutely no plan. Until recently we thought it was only left-hand drive but it's now confirmed with right-hand drive for Japan later this year."
The first pure Lexus hybrid is more than just a petrol-electric green car.
The all-new, mid-sized luxury car is also a hybrid of Toyota hybrids that combines bits and pieces from the existing Prius and Camry with some new mechanical tweaks of its own including an exhaust-gas heat exchanger to speed warm-up and cut emissions.
It has a 2.4-litre petrol engine that is slightly more advanced than today's Prius, promising the performance of a V6 with the economy of a four.
It has a slippery body with a drag co-efficient of 0.27, slightly above the all-new Prius also unveiled in Detroit, with a list of equipment that runs from 10 airbags to a lane-departure warning system, LED tail lights and eco-plastics in the cabin. Lexus says it is 85 per cent recyclable.
The role of the HS in the USA will be to convert owners of Prius who are looking to move upscale, as well as converting some of the 65 per cent of luxury shoppers who Lexus says would have considered a hybrid if one had been available.
The HS250h - for 'hybrid sports' - is the fourth Lexus hybrid but the first with a body that is entirely new, and not a petrol-electric switch of something already in the range. Even the Lexus flagship hybrid, which arrived at the same time as the latest LS, is twinned - like the GS and RX - with a regular petrol-powered model.
"It is the entry-level hybrid in the Lexus range. It has the same role as Prius, which was the first dedicated hybrid in the Toyota range," says Evans.
"It exists as an affordable luxury hybrid sedan. It is a lot less expensive than a GS, or an LS or an RX."
He says the mechanical package - which uses the engine bay and powertrain of the Camry hybrid, underfloor of the new Prius and unique sedan body - stretches the strengths of the existing Prius.
"A couple of things are cutting edge. There is the exhaust-heat recovery system," Evans says.
"It's optimisation technology. With the Lexus hybrid system they are now at the stage of working at the margins. The improvements are one and two per cent with a range of enhancements.
"It's probably not true to say it's a mature technology, but after 10 years it's out of its infancy."
On the sales side, Evans says the HS would give Lexus a unique contender in Australia.
"There is ore room than the IS in the back. It's more suitable for a family than an IS, probably more like a Honda Accord."
And work is already underway in Australia to convert the right-drive announcement into a 2010 on-sale date.
"It has opened a small window for us," says the head of Lexus Australia, John Roca.
"We're looking at every hybrid from launch. It's something that would be nice to have . . . it's a very, very good chance.
"Hybrid sales are now 24 per cent of the volume for Lexus Australia. It started at about eight per cent, and with the introduction of new models it will get to 27 per cent in 2009."
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