Auto news on Youtube Feb 8 2019

As reported by Motorsport.com, rising star Sho Tsuboi has been promoted to the GT500 ranks following a stellar 2018 during season during which he dominated the Japanese F3 championship and scored several podiums in Super GT's GT300 category

Tsuboi has been drafted in at the Bandoh team alongside incumbent and former Super Formula champion Yuji Kunimoto

He effectively takes the place of Kenta Yamashita, who has switched to Team LeMans alongside Kazuya Oshima to fill the seat vacated by Rosenqvist

Lexus has also handed Yuichi Nakayama a break in Super GT's flagship category, the multiple GT300 race winner being paired with Heikki Kovalainen at Sard in place of Kobayashi

Meanwhile, TOM'S has elected to keep an unchanged line-up for both its cars after narrowly missing out on the 2018 title

2017 champions Nick Cassidy and Ryo Hirakawa will drive the team's #37 LC500, while Kazuki Nakajima and Yuhi Sekiguchi will again share the sister #36 car

Cerumo, too, has decided to retain both Hiroaki Ishiura and Yuji Tachikawa, despite suggestions that the latter could retire at the age of 43 after three titles and 18 race wins

As part of the reshuffle, both Kobayashi and Rosenqvist will leave Super GT after one season each

Kobayashi, who will continue in Super Formula in 2019 with KCMG, told Motorsport

com last month that he wants to focus on winning the Le Mans 24 Hours and the WEC title, while Rosenqvist's new IndyCar deal leaves no room for a dual campaign

James Rossiter, who took part in two races last year and had been a regular fixture in Lexus' line-up before, has completely dropped out of the Toyota camp and is expected to jump ship to Nissan instead, with an announcement expected on Saturday

2019 will mark the last season for Lexus in Super GT, before Toyota takes over from its luxury car brand and brings the Supra back to the series for the first time in more than a decade

For more infomation >> Lexus reveals refreshed 2019 Super GT line-up - Duration: 3:08.

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Lexus Launches Special, Subscription-Like Lease Deal For UX - Duration: 2:17.

Lexus is going to offer the sub-compact UX with a new full-service lease program that will include insurance, maintenance and connected services under a single monthly payment

The new Lexus Complete Lease will be initially offered on a 20,000-mile (32,000 km), two-year basis to customers by nearly 80 participating dealers in seven states -California, Florida, Illinois, Indiana, Massachusetts, New Hampshire and Rhode Island

Lexus opted to offer a full-service lease deal instead of a subscription plan, as the company thinks that the subscription model doesn't currently make financial sense for them to "jump in"

"I think there's a lot of unanswered questions about how you take a depreciating asset and have a revenue model that is good for the consumer and good for the brand over the long term of that asset," Cooper Ericksen, vice president for product planning and strategy at Lexus, said back in December

Under a single monthly payment the new Lexus Complete Lease offers up to 10,000 miles per year, all scheduled maintenance, vehicle insurance, two years of connected services (including SiriusXM satellite radio and Lexus' Enform Remote Destination Assist on models equipped with navigation), tire and wheel protection and a $1,000 excess wear and use allowance

"This type of alternative leasing program aligns with the heart of Lexus, providing an amazing guest experience in every way," said Lisa Materazzo, vice president, Lexus marketing

"By appealing to those looking to simplify their monthly commitment, the Lexus Complete Lease program makes the process more streamlined for our guests

" The new 2019 Lexus UX is offered in two versions: the petrol UX 200 -powered by a 168hp 2.0-liter four-cylinder unit- and the hybrid UX 250h, which offers 181hp out of its new-gen electrified powertrain and electric all-wheel drive