RIP Lexus F; Long Live Lexus GR?
It seems as if the Lexus F moniker is on the verge of disappearing entirely, replaced by GR in a more unified performance push.
For many years now, the letter “F” — for Fuji International Speedway — has signified the best in terms of what Lexus has to offer performance-wise, while F Sport models more often added visual and suspension upgrades with standard power levels. We’ve seen a number of legendary Lexus F models over the years, ranging from the IS F to the RC F, GS F, and of course, the legendary LFA. However, it now seems as if the Lexus F performance division has been put out to pasture, all in favor of what we now know as Lexus GR or simply GR.
Lexus Racing recently updated its social media with a series of GR-related posts, which come amid a flurry of new products bearing that same Gazoo Racing moniker. It’s the true beginning of the end for the Lexus F performance division, in general, which began 20 years ago with the launch of the IS F, a truly sad development, indeed. However, as YouTube Kirk Kreifels pointed out in this recent video, Lexus never really fully committed to F, which is a big part of what led to its demise.
While BMW continues to roll out existing performance machines under its “M” division and Mercedes has had AMG under its wing for decades, Lexus maintained more of a focus on its luxurious side of the business, coupled with stellar customer service. At the same time, it has discontinued all of its F cars over the past few years, all while opting not to create any new ones to spice up redesigned vehicles. In fact, the new ES can’t even be had with an F Sport trim.
Meanwhile, Lexus Racing is transitioning from F to GR branding, as we can see from a recent Instagram post teasing a name change for the track-only RC F, which may wind up being called the RC GR instead. This shift aligns Lexus with Toyota’s broader motorsport and performance vehicle strategy under Toyota Gazoo Racing, as it’s ditching TRD models in favor of GR and GR Sport instead. Those GR models use a red, black, and white color scheme, replacing the F’s traditional green hue.
As such, the RC racer will be updated with new styling and a new GR-based livery, though the ages-old machine is only expected to hang around for a bit longer before being replaced by the all-new GR GT, likely in 2027. As for Lexus road cars, we can expect to see GR models offered at select dealerships in the future, though sellers will be required to provide specialized sales and service, as well as significant investments to become part of that group – and likely be located in bigger cities where Lexus enjoys a strong presence.
Regardless, it wouldn’t be surprising to see the Lexus F Sport lineup replaced entirely by some sort of GR branding, given the major shift. When the RX receives its next refresh in 2-3 years, it could mark the end of F Sport, in fact. That’ll certainly be a sad day for many Lexus fans, but in reality, the luxury brand never really committed to F in the same manner as its German rivals did for their own performance divisions, and killing off those high-performance machines gave us a preview of this massive strategy shift years ago.
Now, it’ll be interesting to see what Toyota and Lexus plan to do in terms of branding – it’s possible that we may see some Lexus GR models in the future, or Toyota may simply opt to keep GR separate, acting as a unified performance and motorsport identity across both brands. That would leave Lexus to focus on selling luxurious crossovers, SUVs, and sedans, which may be a tough pill to swallow for folks who loved its old high-performance variants.
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