Sept. 27 (Bloomberg) -- Toyota Motor Corp.'s Lexus, the top-selling luxury brand in the U.S., is studying high- performance hybrids to appeal to buyers who want something sporty while being environmentally friendly.

Lexus may build such gasoline-electric models to reach ``enthusiast groups'' outside its core market, General Manager Jim Farley said in an interview yesterday.

More-powerful models may help Toyota meet a goal of extending its hybrid dominance in the U.S., with 78 percent of the market. The world's biggest maker of hybrids helped boost 2007 U.S. sales of the vehicles by 44 percent through August, based on Bloomberg data and figures from Autodata Corp.

``The benefit of electric drives is immediately available torque,'' said Eric Fedewa, an analyst at CSM Worldwide Inc. in Northville, Michigan. ``The Lexus hybrids have been tuned for performance to some extent, but there's potential for a true high-performance hybrid. That could be an exciting vehicle.''

Lexus also is studying ``a hybrid that's engineered for really high mileage and really low emissions,'' Farley said, without elaborating.

``There is a huge opportunity for a luxury-car company to be seen as a solution provider in terms of getting away from carbon pollution and heavy reliance on oil,'' said Farley, who is based at Toyota's U.S. sales headquarters in Torrance, California.

Challengers

Lexus is watching to see how consumers react to General Motors Corp.'s proposed Volt plug-in hybrid, intended to go 40 miles solely on electricity before the engine engages, and Tesla Motors Inc.'s battery-powered sports car that promises 245 miles of all-electric range, Farley said.

A rechargeable Lexus hybrid with extended electric range is possible, though an improved, ``super-efficient'' version of Toyota's current hybrid system may be more likely, he said.

At this month's Frankfurt auto show, DaimlerChrysler AG's Mercedes-Benz, Bayerische Motoren Werke AG and Porsche AG displayed hybrid sport-utility vehicles intended to challenge Toyota in the U.S. in the next two years. GM has announced plans to offer hybrid Cadillac models to appeal to luxury buyers.

Toyota has sold more than a million hybrids since its Prius was introduced in 1997. ``In the U.S., hybrid is a key brand differentiator, and we don't intend to give that up,'' Farley said.

The Japanese automaker's U.S. hybrid sales this year were 190,057 for the first eight months as rising gasoline prices and wider model selection continued to add to the vehicles' appeal.

LS Hybrid

Lexus sells about 20,000 hybrids annually in the U.S., including the RX 400h SUV, GS 450h sports car and LS 600h L sedan. The latter, Lexus's most expensive model at about $120,000 with options, shows the potential for new types of hybrids, Farley said.

``RX and GS hit the sweet spot for our core business, models near that $35,000 to $45,000 range,'' he said. ``With LS we're attracting a buyer that really wasn't our customer before, a very premium buyer.''

That group includes ``hedge fund managers from Greenwich, Connecticut, entertainment leaders in Los Angeles and Malibu, and financial people on Wall Street,'' Farley said, without identifying individual customers.

Lexus promotes the LS as providing 12-cylinder power from a V-8 engine owing to the electric drive. The company expects to fill orders for about 2,000 annually, with ``most purchases being made in cash,'' Farley said.

Lexus U.S. sales this year through August rose 5.2 percent to 219,542, outpacing the 4.9 percent gain for all vehicles from Toyota City, Japan-based Toyota.

Toyota's American depositary receipts rose 99 cents to $115.88 as of 4:04 p.m. in New York Stock Exchange composite trading. They've fallen 14 percent this year.

To contact the reporter on this story: Alan Ohnsman in Los Angeles at aohnsman@bloomberg.net

Last Updated: September 27, 2007 16:08 EDT