It's a strange marriage: posh Japanese brand Lexus has teamed up with will.i.am - rapper, The Voice judge and a man who has perfected the got-dressed-in-the-dark look - to promote its latest model, an SUV called the NX. will.i.am Scholes finds out what the other will.i.am has got so excited about...
AS odd couples go, even Jack Lemmon and Walter Matthau have little on Lexus and Will.i.am.
One is a premium Japanese car manufacturer, purveyor of exquisitely built and obsessively engineered automobiles to discerning drivers and a chief evangelist for the petrol-electric hybrid.
The other is a self-styled "multi-faceted entertainer and creative innovator", a judge on the The Voice, a celebrity shades- and glove-wearer of note and a rapper, producer and musician with a string of awards to his name; he's so hip he can even get away with punctuating his name as will.i.am. Which I wish I had thought of first.
Lexus has engaged will.i.am to help it market the NX, a mid-sized SUV that goes into battle against a whole heap of talented rivals, but mainly the Range Rover Evoque, Audi Q5 and BMW X3.
It is an odd marriage, no doubt, but then Lexus is slightly odd itself.
On the one hand it sells super-sensible, lowkey luxury cars; on the other it builds bonkers supercars like the LFA, a car whose V10 engine revved so quickly that Lexus had to use a digital tachometer because no analogue instruments could keep pace with it.
Then there is Lexus's long-standing dedication to hybrid technology. It's an idea that has now perhaps found its time, thanks in no small part to a favourable car tax regime, even if for years it seemed plain contrarian when everyone else was making hay with diesel engines; only reluctantly did it fit a diesel to the last IS saloon.
Lexus is on a mission to win new, style-savvy, younger customers to the marque - how else to explain the will.i.am marriage? - so it has high hopes for the NX.
Lexus has quietly established an appealing and distinctive aesthetic - the IS saloon is more handsome than its predictable Audi A4/BMW 3 Series/Mercedes-Benz C-Class rivals - and the NX takes it to the next level, with a series of challenging origami creases and bold shapes that make for a very striking design.
It certainly won't be for everyone, any more than, say, the Range Rover Evoque is, but it certainly makes a statement; no longer can you say that a Lexus is styled to blend into the background rather than catch the eye.
The interior is similarly sharp; it's also very nicely thought out and packed with all sorts of electronic high-tech.
There is a large boot and acres of legroom for the children and teenagers who are most likely to be this car's back seat passengers.
At a time when it is becoming rare to find a new car with a spare wheel, Lexus deserves praise for giving NX owners a space-saver spare instead of a can of foam.
There is the usual complement of storage compartments and bottle holders you would expect to find in a car of this sort. The bottle holder in the centre console has a high-friction base that allows you to open a lid with one hand
- such a simple idea, you wonder why no-one has done it before.
The leather used by Lexus on its seats is also a cut above - or should that be a hide above? - as are its stereo systems; all the better to hear the latest addition to will.i.am's oeuvre, presumably. Where most manufacturers use a large click-wheel to control sat-nav, stereo and the other features loaded on to cars these days, Lexus uses a sort of touch-pad that's more like a computer mouse.
In earlier models this was a bit of a trial-and-error system but it is far more user-friendly in its application in the NX.
Traditionally, Lexus is less shouty about performance and sports car dynamics than the German premium brands, and so it is with the NX.
What you get instead is impressive refinement, supple suspension and an emphasis on comfort that makes the NX a calm and cossetting environment.
The petrol-electric hybrid drivetrain is key to the refinement; super-smooth, quiet and effortless. As with all hybrids, wafting along on electric-only propulsion is a pretty addictive experience.
The cheapest, front-wheel-drive-only NX costs just below £30,000; £34,495 buys an all-wheel-drive in mid-range Luxury trim while the range-topper is the £42,995 Premium. Those prices closely shadow the Germans', none of whom have the distinctive hybrid option.
Whether will.i.am is a neat fit for the brand is debatable - I have to admit, I'm a bit confused about that particular tie-in - but there is little doubting that the NX is a highly persuasive package, which is sure to lift sales to another level and introduce new customers to Lexus.