Lexus LS 600h destroyed in an assassination of Croatian journalists

World's first full hybrid V8 luxury sedan Lexus LS 600h was destroyed in an assassination of two Croatian journalists in Zagreb last night.

A car bomb killed Ivo Pukanic, a prominent Croatian journalist, and a colleague in downtown Zagreb on Thursday, and the country's president and prime minister called it an assassination.

State-run Croatian TV showed footage of Pukanic's burned-out Lexus and two covered bodies outside his NCL Media Group office in the capital, and police identified the victims as Pukanic and his group's marketing director, Niko Franjic.

Croatian senior national police official said a hidden explosive device had destroyed Pukanic's car and that investigation has been launched to determine who had killed him and his colleague.

Pukanic bought the Lexus LS 600h in the USA

Pukanic loved cars and he personally went to Los Angeles to buy Lexus LS 600h. He really wanted exactly this model, and a few months ago he transferred it to his home in Croatia. He said that he had saved a tens of thousands of euros because he bought the car in the States. Pukanic revealed he paid 100,000 euros ($127,490).

The LS 600h features the world’s first full-time, all-wheel drive full hybrid V8 powertrain, combining a technically peerless 5.0-litre engine with a powerful, high-output motor. The result is performance that rivals a standard V12 petrol engine (nought to 62mph in 6.3 seconds) with fuel consumption and emissions that are on a par with the segment’s best performing – and substantially lower powered – diesels (30.4mpg and 219g/km in combined cycle driving). The LS 600h delivers a peak, combined output of more than 430 horsepower.