There’s a reason why Lexus is at the forefront of the luxury automobile industry every single year, and most of that reason has to do with the fact that they make awesome cars. But a huge part of what makes them so awesome is the way that they look, and the credit for the way that they look goes to a design team that continually is willing to take risks.

One way that Essex Lexus cars have been seeing the results of these assertive design techniques is through the spindle grille, which has been evolving for a few years now but showed up most aggressively in the Lexus LF-Gh concept. Now, the new GS sedan due out later this year will feature a gorgeous iteration of the same basic design, and that’s something that Toyota Motor Corp.’s design chief officer Tukuo Fukuichi is really excited about.

“In the next model, we will emphasize this grille even more,” Fukichi said in a recent interview. “You would probably remember this grille if you saw it pass on the street.”

Somerset County Lexus dealers would tend to agree, and any fan of the vehicle that’s been watching the growth of the brand’s design over the last 12-18 months has to love the way these vehicles are shaping up, if only for the fact that they’re doing something different.

As far as Lexus is concerned, different is good.

“We shouldn’t always stay in the middle of the mainstream,” Fukuichi added. “When you launch the product, it ends up with no character.”

That, obviously, isn’t what any automaker wants, but not every design team is given carte blanche to take the sorts of risks that Lexus has. There’s a reason why certain cars on the road look slicker, faster, and more luxurious than others, and it has everything to do with a company’s philosophy on design.

For Lexus, that philosophy means doing some things that other automakers don’t have the guts to do. So far, the spindle grille has been reviewed very positively by the automotive community, and there’s no telling what sorts of things they might come up with next. Chances are, though, it will be something risky, and that’s a very good thing.