LEXUS has raised the bar in the premium saloon market - with the emphasis on style and safety.

The Japanese company has freshened the GS 450h line-up into two equipment grades - SE and SE-L - and brought in new colour choices, alloy wheel designs and interior trims.

The GS, powered by a combination of a 3.5-litre petrol V6 engine and 650V electric motor, delivers fuel economy and emissions that are unmatched by conventional petrol-powered rivals.

On the safety front, the GS 450h's pre-crash system has been revised to include brake technology to support the established pre-crash seatbelt and brake assist functions.

Both front seats have new inflator-operated active headrests which are activated by a signal from the engine control unit should the car suffer a rear-end impact.

The inflator slides a piston into the headrest, unlocks the mechanism and projects the headrest forwards and upwards to support the head and reduce the risk of whiplash injury.

In common with its sister Lexus models, the GS 450h has a new 40GB hard disc drive navigation system, giving Europe-wide coverage with traffic information data capture in each country.

The HDD also provides 10GB of storage space for owners to create their own on-board library of digital audio files - room for around 2,000 music tracks.

Styling-wise, the car gets a new front grille design, the blue rear lamp clusters have been modified and a fresh 18-inch alloy wheel design has been introduced for the SE-L model, while the SE version rides on 17-inch alloys..

In the cabin there is a new hybrid-blue backlit stop/start button and the choice of Venaro Grey semi-aniline leather upholstery option, with contrasting black stitching and grey bird's eye maple wood grain trim.

The range of 11 exterior colours includes three new shades - Vanilla Mist, Richmond Green and Atlantic Blue. Prices start at £43,035 for the GS 450h SE.