Last Thursday (Tokyo time), Toyota Motors Corporation launched their highest priced hybrid vehicle yet—the Lexus GS 450h. With a manufacturer’s suggested retail price (MSRP) of $54,900, the new Lexus hybrid also stands as the most expensive hybrid vehicle in the market today. Now, that high price deserves more than just simple explanations. But Toyota need not explain anything, because all the reasons that their customers may be looking for can already be found on the car.

The new Lexus GS 450h features the first ever mass-produced hybrid system specifically designed for a rear-wheel drive vehicle. The vehicle also discredits the common perception that hybrid vehicles can never be sporty or zippy. Equipped with a 3.5-liter V6 engine, the vehicle outputs 399 horsepower—a power production capability that is often exclusive to the realm of the 4.5-liter V8 machines. Despite this impressive power production, the vehicle still registers an equally impressive fuel mileage of 34 mpg (based on company’s claim), a figure that is normally registered only by vehicles equipped with 2.0-liter petrol engines.

Aside from its impressive power production and fuel mileage, the Lexus GS 450h also boasts of a quieter engine that emits less harmful exhaust. Compared to the average new car, the vehicle emits 80 percent less smog-forming emissions. Noise and vibration levels for the new vehicle also equals about half of what conventional gasoline-powered engines produce. And to further raise the value of the vehicle, Toyota also equipped the Lexus GS 450h with standard features that were ordinarily offered as options for the previous Lexus GS 430.

After its domestic launch last Thursday, the Lexus GS 450h is expected to roll-out in the U.S. next month and in Europe in the succeeding months. According to reports, Toyota plans to sell about 5,700 units of the vehicle this year—1,800 units in Japan, 2,000 units in North America, 2,000 more units in Europe, and 200 units for other markets.