Lexus IS200 goes mellow yellow

LEXUS aims to re-ignite interest in the compact IS200 sedan with a limited edition version that comes in any colour you like - as long as it's yellow. The special edition IS200 YELLOW adds $8000 worth of extra features, but its $54,766 price tag represents a premium of just $4690 over the standard car. A four-speed automatic transmission costs $2280 extra. The extra features include 17-inch chrome alloy wheels, front and rear spoilers, carbon fibre steering wheel with yellow inserts, electric moonroof, drilled sports pedals and an individually numbered interior badge. Front and side airbags, remote central locking, anti-lock brakes, leather upholstery, climate control air-conditioning, a six-stack CD player, traction control and power windows and mirrors are among the features already standard in the base model. The limited edition Lexus - of which just 100 will be sold here - is decked out in a special edition yellow that is otherwise unavailable in the Australian Lexus range. It uses the same 2.0-litre, six-cylinder engine that powers the standard car. This unit generates 114kW and 195Nm, enough to endow the car with respectable but by no means earth-shattering performance. There is still no news on if and when the 3.0-litre IS300 will make its Australian debut. This model was introduced to the US market earlier this year. Sales of the IS200 have dipped slightly this year with 645 sold until the end of June. By comparison, it averaged 170 monthly sales last year.