It's unfortunate that GS sales collapsed as no one can crack Mercedes/Bmw dominance in this segment. I agree with the notion that while the ES is successful, it hurts GS sales.

 

Have you see M sales from the early 90s, early 2000s, until its good 4 year run? Its flopped again. Thats right 3 maybe 4 good yeas out of 2 decades. The RL/RLX has flopped since the beginning of time.

Its really funny to see people try to pick on the GS for a couple of low months with no incentives.

 

Why are you being so defensive? The M is irrelevant to people saying the GS not selling well. It's a good -- no, a great car, but some of us are just disappointed that it's selling half of what it was just a year after release. It's a concern for GS fans because it's selling less than the 3GS, which was prompting Toyoda mulling pulling the GS altogether.

 

Why are you so defensive and worried about my stance?

Some of us actually own the GS. I know that's tough to believe since its such a bad car and people on the Internet think its predator buy alas some of us have it and are tired of people finding any way to slam it. Some people rarely post and don't contribute here and find time to weasel in and talk a out the GS when their favorite brand(s) struggle more than an ice cream shop on Antartica.

 

Only people that say that are Eurosnobs and schills paid for by Hyundai/Kia. Again I blame Lexus for not pushing the GS hard enough after the initial launch. In February the A6 passed it by a little bit. As some posters have suggested, it seems that Lexus will start a marketing push again with the launch of the IS and a new worldwide campaign. Hope this will bring the GS back up 2000+

 

Yes their GS marketing has been all over the map and that's not good.

 

guys, we know that 'how good a car is' and 'sales' don't always correlate. sometimes bad cars sell surprisingly well, and great cars fail. conflating the two only causes pointless debates/arguments. the gs is by no means a bad car, and is by no means failing. it had two weak months, and the es definitely eats into sales for those that don't care about 'sportiness'. lexus is no doubt happy to crank out es units all day. they've never offered a large inventory of gs it seems and aren't about to start, and so maybe the on-again off-again marketing is part of that.

 

I'm still hoping for an aggressive GS refresh in the next year or so. It needs more differentiation from the ES, but even then, history has shown that sporty doesn't exactly sell, despite what marketing and hype tell us. 8AT, more horsepower, more technology, more exclusive design, full spindle grill, etc. GS F as halo model would help, too.

I know I sound like a broken record to many people, but the GS' biggest competitor and worst stumbling block is not the E, or 5 series, or A6...it is the ES. I've seen the scenario play out countless times. To the average consumer, The ES is 80% the same car at 80% of the price. I can see where Lexus has taken some steps to "dumb down" the new ES and beef up the 4GS, but most people just aren't going to pay $15k more for a car with RWD, a leather stitched dash, and nicer options. The average buyer sees 4 doors, midsize, Lexus emblem, wood, leather, LCD screens, V6, smooth ride.....and $15k of savings. The rest is history.

 

kudos to Lexus for providing their buyers with options.

 

^I agree. At the same time, I am beginning to sincerely worry about the future of the GS if these type of numbers persist. We are only one year into sales of the new model and as the ES now comes online, we've seen a big drop in volume. It could be temporary or it could be a cause for worry. Time will tell...

 

A GS F is coming, as is a GS hybrid, although we may not get the hybrid in North America. Spy shots in Japan were taken of the GS hybrid not too long ago, as well as spy shots of a GS F prototype.

Plus there is likely going to be a GS coupe, but it won't be called a GS coupe, it will have its own name likely, so sales wouldn't be grouped together like they are for the E Class coupe and sedan.

Forget the internet. What matters is the 4GS is a BIG improvement over the 3GS, and 4GS owner satisfaction is very high. Handling is massively improved and now class leading, ride is good, interior and luggage space is a lot better than the 3GS, and features and options are way more advanced as well.

GS sales haven't "collapsed". Until we see a trend of many months with GS sales being this low, we can't say they've collapsed.

You people sound like a broken record. The GS IS being pushed right now. There are some new GS commercials that have recently aired, plus there is the "Command Performance" Sales Event going on for March in the US where they're pushing GS and IS sales.

January and February are the two slowest months of the year, *and* last month there was a HUGE snowstorm on the East Coast which significantly affected sales, which Toyota admitted to in the monthly sales report. Plus Benz and BMW had their usual strong incentives for the E and 5 in January and February, while Lexus had virtually no incentives for the GS those months. If the E and 5 had as little incentives as the GS gets, then their sales would be way lower as well. Big incentives is what keeps a lot of the German sales going. Many of the East Coast States are very strong for Toyota and Lexus, and it just so happens that those States unfortunately got hit hardest by the snowstorm.

Where were you when November and December GS sales came out, when Lexus had a bit of incentives on the GS? Nothing to criticize then? Only waiting for the most "convenient" time to hate?

Haters always hate, that's the way it is, except when the facts prove haters wrong, and the haters remain silent.

This may be harsh for some, but quite honestly, then most of those people either can't afford anything more than an ES, or they are stupid. The 4GS interior is a BIG leap over the 6ES. Not just in style and craftsmanship, but in quality and materials it is a BIG noticeable leap. Just from pictures you can tell the GS interior looks MUCH BETTER than the ES interior. With the older 3GS and 5ES, the gap between the two interiors was a lot smaller. 3GS interior space was cramped, and ride/handling was not that great. The 3GS offered almost nothing significant over the 5ES for the majority of people. The 4GS however is a lot different than the 6ES. The 4GS offers MUCH better and sharper handling, a totally different class of interior, and a different level of luxury when you look at the interior overall, the features, the seats and options like rear seat controls.

Everything is much more improved with the 4GS, and Lexus this time did a good job creating a big gap between the 4GS and the 6ES.

What Lexus REALLY needs to do is have some serious talks with its US dealers, and have them push the GS harder. The ES sells automatically, so the dealers should NOT even be focusing on that. The GS though is a much higher-margin car selling in lower numbers, so the dealers SHOULD be focusing more on the GS.

And yes, Toyota's marketing for the GS has been inconsistent over the years, but it looks like it may *finally* be improving this year.

A GS F and more engine choices along with the refresh will be a big help in increasing GS sales.

Akio Toyoda has said he has now taken DIRECT responsibility for the Lexus division, and many of the Lexus executives have direct lines of communication to Akio Toyoda himself now. Also if you look back at Akio's speech during the 4GS unveiling, he said he took direct responsibility to make sure the 4GS would be a great car.

Mark my words, the GS is not going anywhere, and Akio Toyoda will make sure of that.

 

I agree with every word of the above post.

Lexus dealers need to be less short sighted and push for more GS sales. The GS is higher margin and in the long run, better GS sales will lead to more profit margin than an equivalent ES.

 

Well said TRD

 

hybrid already out. (though for some reason lexus chose not to offer the hybrid f-sport in u.s. )

http://www.lexus.com/models/GS/hybrid/

agreed!

even with incentives, comparably equipped 5/e are more than gs, except maybe for lease deals where we know bmw/mb are aggressive, and my guess is the majority of those are leased.

laughing at this - they could talk all they want, but only money talks in the car business. if they want dealers to sell more gs or to push it over the es, then they need to give incentives. dealers will sell whatever makes the most money. es may have lower margins (although not much i expect), but it's an easier sale. better to sell 10 es than 1 gs. again, this has nothing to do with how good either vehicle is. also, higher quantity of unit sales means more service business, which is where most of the margin is for dealers these days.

i see no evidence of improvement. the command performance ads i see here are for IS when most people who buy is probably already know a new model is right around the corner.

not convinced there will be a gs-f. and we're talking refresh when the 4GS has only been out a year? the gs handling and interior are great, but let's face it, lexus made a mistake, just like they did with the 3GS, by coming out with old drivetrains to start. it needs the 8 speed auto, and a bump in hp. and it has the same old problem of complex and limited option bundles and minimal actual availability with variation at dealers.

back to side by side with es and gs, i think there's yet another problem... side by side, i think the es is the better looking car from outside. the gs has weak (bland) sides and rear, and front is either normal new lexus, or 'in your face'.

but the es and gs aren't going away, they will be refreshed/improved, and life will go on!

 

Nice to see the rare Lexus enthusiast around here.

Here is more proof the GS is a sales flop, best selling Lexus in Japan in 2012.

http://lexusenthusiast.com/2013/02/1...ales-in-japan/