I don't see why. EV LS with a much bigger battery, AWD with huge amounts of power and all the latest tech. Next generation LS should have been an electric vehicle showcase of where Lexus is headed, instead they are headed to 4-cylinder hybrid drivetrain in most everything.

 

But you can add those same things to an ES. Its technology is already lightyears ahead of any existing Lexus product being what seems to be an actual software-defined vehicle. BEV motors can just be swapped out for more powerful ones and drivetrain calibration is a mere matter of software tuning. And if Lexus has those miraculous solid state batteries they're been proclaiming to put into their vehicles every other year, there's nothing to stop them from putting that into the ES. Why bother making an LS then? These were not things you could do before on a regular ICE vehicle.

Wishing they had secret German or Tesla-killer cars is a pipe dream and was never going to happen once the Japanese bubble blew up and globalization put every manufacturer on the same playing ground. At that point it's just wishing for a vehicle that doesn't exist, rather than for a new LS with the same qualities that defined an LS.

 

I understand what you are saying.
I may be wrong but the ES was not the flagship model like the LS was.

They can improve the ES but they can't just add the flagship image of the LS.

People won't see it.
Image has value. $$$


imagine if Mercedes discontinued the S Class and tried to lift up a lower model in it's place? 😁

 

And that's addressing the other issue the LS has - what image does it have now? Is that image even relevant anymore outside of a handful of online enthusiasts, who generally have nostalgia for older LS's anyway? If image alone was sufficient, the current LS wouldn't have sold as poorly as it did.

The S-Class has been for decades the vehicle of the wealthy and elites. The LS started out as a world-beater tech demo to showcase the might and power of Japan at the peak of the bubble economy, then continued refining those elements until we got the LS430, which was the culmination of improvements to the LS400 formula. Lexus then tried competing with the S-Class directly with the 460 and started from the ground up - and it languished. Then they tried chasing the Panamera and BMW 6 Gran Coupe with the LS500, which also didn't work out. So what image does the LS even have now, when it basically has no established identity beyond the nostalgia of the 400-430?

 

That's a good point.
With Lexus being a luxury brand I believe it's critical for them to have a flagship model.

Critical.
Even if they only sell ten. Lol

Bring back the LS or the ceiling of this brand is now the ES which never had a flagship image.

Just Imo everyone. 😁

 

Some not all. Better interior, better materials, as I said larger battery quieter etc. etc. there is a difference between a Chevy Bolt and Tesla Model S.

Either way now Lexus isn't going to have a halo car.

 

They can differentiate an EV LS from an ES, the same way Tesla differentiates the Model S from the Model 3.

 

Sad, but I'm not surprised. Half of us saw this coming.

Lexus just sucks now minus the LC. I was asked a car recommendation by my spouse's friend (she wants a decently large SUV) and I realized myself that Lexus currently offers nothing that would fit her needs.

That's pathetic.

She's going to look at a Tahoe because she likes them and they're big enough inside. And she insists on a pano roof that actually opens, since Lexus doesn't do that either.

I never would anyway but now I'm REALLLLLLY never gonna dump the LS430. It's the best car they ever made IMO. We don't need to argue over that, it's just my opinion.

 

It's up there as one of the best. I think the 1997 LS400 wins but I admit it's partially because nostalgia of having the original name.

 

It would be redundant. ES is already 203 inches long which is almost the same length as LS500. Model S is a foot longer than the Model 3. You're looking at a bespoke Maybach-sized LS which is as much of a pipe dream as a V12 LS.

 

Almost like Lexus has been planning for the ES to replace the LS.

 

 

A8s are sport first, that's why I picked 3 of them....however unlike Lexus they can do smooth well enough it's like having two cars on demand. Lexus never made a sharp car until the 500 and they totally screwed up by making it unable to switch personalities like the Germans have always been able to

 

Huh? What do you mean you couldn't do this before?

VW put a 12 cyl in a golf and Mercedes put every engine they made into near every chassis under their umbrella, powertrain swaps have been one of the the defining features of engines because they are self contained systems.

The ES would need to have a price spread of $45-150k to do what you suggest and offer various wheel bases and countless other options that would be very odd to see on one model. The LS used to be by default far better equipped in all ways than even the best ES so if they expect t to be the new flagship they need to offer all of those options.

That means at least 3 glass types alone and I don't know what they will do with suspension but I doubt they will be able to have both strut subframe units and complex multi-link setups as selectable options.

 

This makes sense to me. Much like how an EV powertrain is ideal for the Rolls ethos, it also exactly fits what the LS was meant to be. It was never supposed to be a sport sedan. Quiet, effortless, smooth.