Saw this from a mile away.... one step closer to acura, infiniti and buick

 

or jaguar… maybe Lexus is already there with their lame advertising like a Barbie LX.


 

This new "fixed pano roof" trend that more and more luxury automakers are adopting is one of the worst curses of current cost-cutting trends.

New BMWs including the X3 and iX3, 7er, 5er, and upcoming 3er, Audi's new A5, A6, and A6 e-Tron, the new CLA and GLC EV Mercedes etc.

Huge deal breaker for me as well, yeah yeah yeah "studies" that customers don't open their sunroofs, I don't care it's a cost cutting move through and through. None of the benefits of a slicktop, none of the benefits of an opening sunroof. Just brings in more heat.

 

no kidding. The worst offender is Tesla where you don’t even get a sun shade. there should be a mandate by federal law on a standard sunshade

LS500 offers a choice of a regular sunroof or pano

 

Totally agree - roofs that don't open have ruled out several cars (Crown Signia as an example) that otherwise are appealing to me.

 

Bottom line is Lexus never grew up to be luxury tier 1 competitor properly after three decades so they just gave up.

 

Or maybe large luxury sedan sales are way down. Mercedes slashed production of the S Class last year. LX 700H seems pretty tier 1 to me.

 

Not going to go back through the whole thread, I have been in FL and found out while I was there. What we expected but really a shame still.

Sad that very soon Lexus won't have anything really in a tier 1 position except maybe the LX...

The luxury sedan market isn't dead, but it certainly is dying...

 

I agree it is sad. But the saddest part is that like, when Lexus first started cheapening their products in the late 2000s, the LS's demise didn't HAVE to occur. They did an excellent job with LS400/430/460, and didn't HAVE to screw up the 500. They chose to do so, and the result is history.

 

Honestly I don’t think we would be in a different place. Sales of S Class and 7 Series are also a shadow of what they were, I think most buyers in this segment now are like me who are enthusiasts of this kind of car, and we go to the best car…I think the LS would be a very slow seller and a replacement wouldn’t be easy to justify regardless.

I happily drove the LS but I always wanted an S Class, even if the LS500 was what I wanted, at some point I would have moved on to the S Class. Even I am
unlikely to buy another flagship sedan, my guess is my next car will be an SUV. Range Rover or something like that.

 

I prefer sedans to crossovers and that's what I chose to buy, but I admit I'm in a minority of people. BMW has said they're committed to sedans, but we'll see how long that holds up as sales decline in favor of the X3/X5/X7.

I think Lexus fell out of contention with the Germans about 10 years ago when the Germans started going to forced induction and Lexus decided to stick with the Toyota Sienna's engine. At that point they just started falling behind and never made up the distance. They're happy to cater to the FWD Crossover melatonin market and fight Acura instead of the Germans.

 

Most other brands are down tiering their luxury as well. There are only so many features you can have in a car before they become a gimmick. Then what else is there to compete on? EV have leveled the playing field for performance. There are only so many cows you can kill to skin your hide with (most going with eco-crappy-materials for feel-good factor). Good handling has become mainstream. Most brands are at a lost of how to compete and differentiate, Lexus included.

 

really? this dual screen setup is an abomination.



and worst cargo area ever.


the first version of the ls460 massively cheapened the interior from the ls430 with all the plastic around the screen. they did improve it with the refresh.



melatonin market, lol. because consumer reports tells people the most ‘sensible’ choice now is a wheezy 4 cylinder hybrid.

 

i think this is sadly accurate. it’s really disappointing to me that lexus/toyota is so shortsighted. the currentl ls500 may not be selling but the blow to the brand is huge. i mean what if mercedes dropped the s-class? that would be huge news. they will likely make the s-class “taller” at some point or do other things like rear reverse doors or some other way to differentiate from sedans (what’s left) of the masses, but i don’t see them just giving up.

 

I had very high hope when it was coming. Then the interior killed my excitement. Nerveless, I did a test drive. I didn't know and still don't know how some would drop this much for this vehicle. I guess they value other things more. Back to the LS... I walked by one the other day from front to tail. I think it's a good luxury sedan overall, just over priced for what's offered IMO.