Mr. Burns

Did I say the GS should match 5er and E-class sales? The ES alone will ensure that will never happen.

No I'm suggesting a drive to reach a sensible target not a conservative one. 2500-3000 a month consistently would do nicely for the GS.

To do that the car needs a styling makeover, a larger back seat, and new engines.

UDel

I think the RLX hybrid will be moderately successful, the GS hybrid has no real performance advantage over the GS350 and it is priced too high for any fuel savings. The RLX hybrid has a huge performance/hp advantage over the fwd RLX and is a car that will be reviewed much better and will create some buzz. The hybrid is the car Acura should have led with, it has the most advanced hybrid system available.

Acura made a huge mistake not giving the RLX SH-AWD or at least offering it as a option, they should have waited to release the RLX if it was not ready for the RLX.

jwong77

Sorry the buzz is over in today's attention deficit disorder world. They missed their 15 mins.

spwolf

well, while I am sure that facelift with new style exterior and new engines will bring up the sales - like it did with every other vehicle, it still leaves us where we were at previously. GS was designed to be sports sedan with these kinds of sales. Making it bloated like ES misses the point of GS.

There is no sensible or conservative target, that reasoning is silly. They hit what they design. I think they are happy with GS being half of ES sales and triple of LS sales, especially since worldwide, it is pretty expensive vehicle with over 20% of sales being GS450h.

We should be thankful for ES being what it is, because it allows for GS to be what it is.

Vladi

GSh dismal sales are reflection of benefits/$$$ ratio. Car is still priced with a $10,000 difference like it was seven years ago in previous generation which is unheard of. You would think that technology adoption would make it cheaper. They made a switch from "performance" to fuel savings which was a right call but not for the price difference. Im just saying this cause GSh is the best car in Lexus lineup yet its so out of reach of many potential owners. GSh needs to be priced like ESh and not like LSh

RLX hybrid will be a limited run All those cars that were supposed to come in spring are already somewhere on the US soil waiting for a "fix". So by the time they arrive to the dealers somewhere around fall or winter of 2014 they will still carry 2014MY nomenclature. Major f'up!

But RLX-SH will be priced with minimal difference compared to regular RLX which will push dealers to heavily discount gasoline models or they will simply not order them anymore. I expect RLX-SH in 2015 to lead the sales in RLX lineup. Even right now you can get RLX with $10,000 discount which makes it a perfect alternative to ES.

LexFather

The RLX never had a buzz and never will, it hasn't for 3 generations. If Lexus, BMW, Porsche cannot sell hybrids I'm not sure what made Acura think an Accord based RLX at 70k was a smart move. They should have put that investment somewhere else.

The RLX hybrid was to be sold in December, 2013 it got pushed to spring and now it seems there is something wrong with the car since they are built but not being sold. Funny for anyone to call it the best, its not sold, its unproven, something is CLEARLY wrong with it.

Acura can't even sell a 50k RLX witht 10k discounts, did they really think a 70k one was a good decision? For what a minimal gain in power and MPG? Again they sold barely 200 cars with 10k discounts on a vehicle a year old.

And also btw, it seems it will be even more limited in production than the GS. We are talking 250 or so cars, like one a dealer. So anyone expecting some incredible sales leap clearly has no idea what is going on.

Allen K

iTrader: (4)

Agreed. If the RLX was going to sell for less than the regular RLX, I'd say it has a chance. Being priced at $70k loaded means it's dead in the water. If I wanted a hybrid AWD midsize sedan, why would I buy a RLX hybrid at $70k loaded when I can buy a loaded Q50 hybrid AWD for $55k?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

good point, although the rlx is a much bigger car. but not $15k bigger.

MPLexus301

iTrader: (3)

I think at this point, Acura needs to do what Infiniti has done: drop the flagship and focus on strengthening the core of the lineup. You can always bring a flagship back later on... at this point, the RL(X) is doing more damage to the brand than good. Bad press, low sales, frustrating dealers, etc.

ILX is really a trash car. I don't say that very often, but for what you get and what it is, that car is garbage. They need new ILX (new design, optional SH-AWD, amazing interior), a standout TLX, a strong refresh for the RDX, very strong NSX introduction, etc. RLX is just a lost cause at this point.

As much as I hate to say it, the NSX is about the last thing Acura should be doing right now, IMO. They have much bigger problems than a lack of a halo sports car.

TangoRed

Agreed.

The good news is that while the TLX V6 SH-AWD isn't getting as good of reviews as I had hoped, the I4/8-speed DCT is getting rave reviews.

natnut

And that sums up perfectly the relationship of the GS to the ES : both design-wise and sales-wise.

UDel

There will be some buzz, not a lot, but it will be the most advanced unique hybrid powertrain on the market and will have the most power for its size/pricing. The video of the NSX going around the ring(before it burned up) received a huge amount of views and interest. The hybrid RLX won't sell in high numbers of course but it could be moderately successful for a expensive hybrid, certainly more then the GSh, if the reviews are good. It is a very big step up in power/performance over the regular RLX. The RLX is not the only car in the segment with big discounts, GS is discounted over 8K too, Infiniti and BMW have very low leases and discounts, etc.

Not saying I am a fan of the RLX or happy with the way it is now but I see some potential with the hybrid and offering SH-AWD along with some styling tweaks.

The best way to boost sales for the RLX in the immediate future is offer SH-AWD or make it standard, do a MMC to give it more aggressive styling to go along with the hybrid but they really should give it its own platform.

Lex2InfiN

Agreed that it's priced too high and should be more aligned with ES300h pricing in relation to ES350 pricing. But at the end of the day, it's still a confusing car and its trying to be too many things, while being a master at none. I say either crank up the performance or crank up the fuel economy. Because right now it's a tweener trying to be both those things which ultimately does not appeal to anyone. It's not a GS460 replacement and it cannot compete with the fuel economy numbers with any other hybrid out there, including sister ESh.

Yea, I heard that. I heard the RLX hybrid is not expected to be on sale until December, as a 2014 model. Talk about dropping the ball. This whole RLX launch from the beginning has been a complete disaster. I predict those hybrids will be heavily discounted to move them out of showrooms.

It's really going to be interesting to see how low sales numbers for the RLX will be by December. This car is doing worse than the ZDX did and that was a major flop. And we all know what eventually happened to the ZDX. This could indeed very well be the last generation of the "Legend". Sad, but true.

I bet there's no more than 25 people in the entire country holding out for an RLX hybrid.
You're being very optimistic

GSteg

iTrader: (15)

Any new numbers for the month of August?