(Sorry for the delayed interview, things were busy for me IRL)
On December 18th, I and GT2R_S sat down to talk about Lyx, which depending on who you are, may or may not think the brand flew under most radars, remaining extremely quiet. Now, if you catch GT2R_S in Untergelrich, you'll find him usually driving an unreleased model: the Ervöra. Well, here's some insight into the building of both cars, alongside the challenges both cars presented.
Article Information
For this interview, Catalyst_0 will be shortened to Cat and GT2R_S will be referred to as Kai. As per usual, since the paragraphs get a bit long in this discussion, I'll space out each person speaking when needed. I also break up some of the largest paragraphs. Grammatical errors (spelling, capitalization, punctuation) were also fixed. Otherwise, they are direct quotes from when we talked. We're using the final edited versions.
Interview
Cat: So, I'll be asking about Lyx, the Okant and Erövra, and the Quo-Lyx relationship
Kai: Alright
Cat: So, let's start off: Is the current version of the Okant we've been seeing the final design for the headlights, the shape, or can we expect it to change again?
Kai: Well the Okant has always been a bit of a tricky car for me to make, the first version the "prototype" was always fairly messy and I feel unfortunately because of what happened with IAS this year the car still isn't how I want it to be, it's rushed messy and needs work so yes, you can expect changes from the version seen at IAS.
Cat: Is it messy via the body lines, the quality of lines, or is there even more? What core design elements do you find need the most work? What is exactly how you want, if anything?
Kai: It's mostly the rear design, the Okant from the start was a hard car to design and for whatever reason the Okant seems to be cursed with something that seems to make it really hard to have a rear design that suits the front it always seems off whenever we try a different design, the whole car itself feels bland, like a blank canvas.
Cat: Is the design stalemate the biggest contributor to the development? How has development been outside the looks?
Kai: Outside of the development on styling we are working on other parts on the car, I know that to most it seems like development on the car just isn't happening but it's been hard to make developments on a car which doesn't even have a final design.
Cat: Yea, the car's design does heavily affect how the interior and screens look. Moving away from the design, do you have any ideas on how Lyx will differentiate itself from the competition? Is it going to aim to be a luxury brand, will it go the extra mile and become an ultra-luxurious car brand? Sorry for the quite abrupt segue
Kai: Originally the idea of Lyx was to be an ultra-luxury brand but later I decided that Lyx would be a performance-oriented luxury brand of course there's always going to be a more luxury-oriented trim which would also count as the base trim for Lyx cars which I'll drop the name of, "Tamar" named after the Tamar Valley in the North of Tasmania, would be the trim of Lyx's more luxury-oriented vehicles, other trims which I will not yet give the names of yet will be like different lifestyle options, there will be a trim which will pack a punch.
Cat: Do you think the design of your cars reflects Lyx's brand ideology?
Kai: Yes, they would.
Cat: Nice! Now, with Autoworks' Winter Showcase now the Spring Autoshow, do you plan on bringing Lyx to the show? If not, why? Is it for similar reasons as BlindedEpisode or is it for completely unrelated things?
Kai: I do plan to bring Lyx to the Spring Autoshow although I will not say much about what I have planned for Lyx for the Autoshow. One thing that is related to concepts, a Lyx Concept will be seeing a revival soon.
Cat: Speaking of concepts, let's talk the Erövra. Has development been slow for it with the Okant or has designing it been easier?
Kai: Development on the Erövra was rushed as it was built in only a week just before the IAS cars and coffee, having the Okant in its sort of final design form helped form up the design for the Erövra however, the Erövra has fallen to the same fault of the Okant, it's design is bland a [and?] feels unfinished, the interior will be completely redone in favour of the Okant's interior when that is made as the current one feels bland and generic, almost as if some has used some generic base.
Cat: What is the main reason you think Lyx cars specifically fall into this trap of off-the-shelf-ness?
Kai: Blueprints.
Cat: Could you elaborate?
Kai: When making the Erövra and Okant I used blueprints as a base, essentially stealing other parts of other brands' designs but I always try to draw the cars away from looking like the car that I based it off. Bolt [i_B0LT] is always helping improve the designs and just recently I have stopped the use of Blueprints for future Lyx vehicles.
Cat: Let's talk marketing, since this interview has made me wonder: will we be getting another global unveiling video on YouTube for when you've pinned down a design you love? How outdated do you think the current public video for Lyx is?
Kai: I believe there will be a new video once we have a design I like since well, the current public one is old and defiantly outdated, uploaded back in March this year it is 9 months old.
Cat: Thanks for reminding me, damn Lyx is going on one year soon. Early congratulations on the anniversary. To begin to wrap up, let's get into the other half of this interview: Lyx and Quo. How has Lyx being a Quo Automotive brand affected the company, and affected you?
Kai: Lyx being a part of Quo hasn’t really affected the brand or me, the only real effect that it has had on the brand is the technology which we still do not have. People thinking Lyx is bad because it’s under quo are people who are just finding a reason to hate on it without actually looking into things.
Cat: Shame that some people still carry around this mentality, it's definitely not fun. To put a bow on our conversation: What do you think will be next for Lyx after the Erövra, the Okant, are both released? Do you think the Lyx Concept we'll be seeing in 2022 will be the next thing on the list, or do you have other ideas?
Kai: I have many plans for 2022, the Okänt will be the first to be released then the Erövra and then any new car which will come into development, the Lyx concept you will see in 2022 may be the next Lyx but I can’t confirm.
Cat: I can't wait to see what's in store, Lyx has been pretty quiet to the public. It was my pleasure, truly, to have the chance to talk with you.
Kai: No problem.
Conclusion
That's all folks. We discovered the design of the upcoming cars is leaving the Lyx team dizzy, and the Erövra isn't anywhere close to its final form, is only made in a week. This interview also gave us insight into the "Tamar" trim and what the future has in store for this performance-luxury manufacturer.
Feel free to leave your own opinions and join the Lyx conversation. Please leave some feedback on my questions and question style, as they help me improve CarBlox's interviews and stories.
Cover image credit goes to Kai himself (forgot to add this to the BlindedEpisode discussion, but he made that cover photo).
Thanks for reading!
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