that's just like talking about the national salary median, and then talking about how considerable amount of people making 3x or more than the median. the whole bell curve is so shifted nowadays.

i live in a decent neighborhood but far from anything prestigious or elite, and i can't even keep track of all the w222 running around. i guess we can say rich or poor is matter of perspective, but from my point of view, here in CA, driving a 80-100k car is nothing that special at all.

even if we remove that from my statement, it still doesn't take away the fact that lexus is still the value buy. starting price of 7 and S are both quite a bit higher than LS, and that benefits the LS. considering someone looking at the e43 or 550i, and then it comes the ls500. unless the buyer cares that much about performance or driving dynamics, the LS sounds awfully attractive.

 

You are correct on both points but we cant judge the performance of LS in next 3 years, we can judge its todays performance and it is quite good. They also have very competitive base with new V6tt and with rumored V8tt they will be able to cover all fronts, better than previous models. Weather that's good enough in the next years, we will see, but LS will continue to be pretty competitive in the US, especially against Audi and BMW.

But again, what we are talking about today is last months sales and they are excellent both in Japan and USA.

 

Thanks, to everyone who provided sale numbers. On the other hand can some of you guys stop posting your theories as facts. Just b/c you find a ad or a statement on the internet doesn't make it true across the entire u.s.
The big one I hear over and over again. I can get a deal on this and that. The dealer is not in business to lose money, you got a good deal for a reason. Congrats.

 

 

That is a smoking deal! Too bad it's not available everywhere.
​​​​​​I know because I've been haggling with my dealer nonstop for the last month in a Q60 and they won't budge at all.

Now, sure the platform is old, but the VR is new. Lexus could learn a thing or 2 about MMC powertrain changes (and I'm not talking about adding +5 hps). Still shows how great of a value Q50s are.

 

sure, i think we can both say lexus did pretty good on the LS for the first month, but i definitely wouldn't go as far as saying this is a big success yet

wow, i didn't remember the car sold that well the first 2 years?! that was about 3000 units a month for the first year!!! haha ok with that i am not sure how successful the new LS for the first month. maybe we should look at the first month or two on the s class and 7 series when they debut for comparison. i do recall the new 7 series was pretty pathetic...

 

http://www.hybridcars.com/march-2018-sales-dashboard/

March 2018 Sales DashboardHybridCars.com Staff April 4, 2018

The HybridCars.com monthly sales Dashboard is a collaboration of HybridCars.com and Baum & Associates, a Michigan-based market research firm focusing on automotive issues including the hybrid and electric vehicle market.Overall sales for March were up from a year ago and from February. Plug-ins, battery electrics, and diesels were up from a year ago on the strength of new products, while hybrids were down.

Sales for full electric vehicles were up from March of last year based on sales of the Model 3 and Chevy Bolt EV. Sales of the Model 3 remain far below plan, but continue to reach monthly peaks. Sales of 3,680 in March (estimated) were limited since production did not reach the 2,500 a week goal that Tesla set some months ago. Tesla said they produced around 2,000 in the last week, although it is unclear if that volume will be sustained going forward. Of course, we do expect sales and production to rise going forward, but again, the 5,000 per week goal set for late June seems unlikely. Bolt sales have been down in the 1st quarter as compared to the end of 2017, presumably because fleet sales are down. The BMW i3 enjoyed a good month, selling almost 1,000 units. Nissan LEAF sales continue to grow, but have room to run as the new model becomes more fully available, with the higher-range version coming later this year. Almost two-thirds of BEVs sold this month were Teslas, and we expect this to increase even as new entrants start to appear later this year.

Plug-in hybrids also had a very good month as compared to last year as the Prius Prime had its best month ever at almost 3,000 units. The Chevy Volt is 2nd in the category, and sales were strong bucking declines in recent months where the Bolt seemed to take demand away from the Volt. The Honda Clarity is relatively new to the market and is the third best-selling product in the category. The Fusion Energi sold almost 800 units, which is a consistent result for this vehicle over many months. Sales of the C-Max Energi are on their way down as this product is no longer being produced. A large number of models continue in this category and overall sales grew by a third from February and by half over March a year ago. Sales are up by a third year-to-date. This category is unique in that the sales are spread over a large number of automakers, with Toyota, GM, BMW, Honda, and Ford all having significant shares.

Hybrids were down from year-ago and year-to-date as the segment leaders continue to struggle. The Fusion hybrid was down vs. last March and year-to-date, as was the Prius Liftback. However, the RAV4 had another good month, along with the Camry and strong entrants such as the Ioniq. The Rogue hybrid continues as a “hard-to-find” product, but would seemingly sell much better if supplies were available. The success of the RAV4 as a hybrid suggests that the Honda CR-V will be available in the U.S. at some point, as it is now available in Japan and Europe. This category is dominated by Toyota, Ford, and Hyundai/Kia, with other automakers not significant players. The Prius V is down dramatically as the RAV4 has filled its market position. Toyota introduced an updated version of the RAV4 at the recent New York Auto Show; a hybrid version based on this new model will be available early next year. In the meantime, the current version will continue on sale.

In the diesel category, the Ford Transit and Ram Pickup (volumes are estimated for both) lead the category, and represent almost two-thirds of total sales. Sales of the Ram Pickup diesel may moderate in coming months as the changeover to the new model occurs and diesel versions are held back. Small volumes of Audi and VW diesels are being sold, but these are “leftovers” from before the diesel crisis that have been modified to meet federal requirements. While Chevrolet continues to offer the Cruze and Colorado, and GMC offers the Canyon and Terrain, volumes of these products are modest.

ALSO SEE: February 2018 Dashboard

Fuel cell vehicles are only offered by Honda, Toyota, and Hyundai and only available in California. This is because the necessary fueling infrastructure is only available there. Hyundai sales are negligible as they prepare for a new model known as the Nexo, which was shown in New York. Sales are expected as soon as late this year for that model.

 

The current market is very different, large sedans have been declining overall for the last 5 years.

 

indeed... only 28% of vehicle sales these days are cars, it is completely different market.

Not only sedans were popular back then, it also started at $62k vs new model thats around 80k to start.

Besides, if S class is not being to outsell 2007 LS, it also sells badly? We can spin this forever if we want, lol.

They are selling out their 2019 LS, 1k is monthly production for USA and they are selling it out.... they also have big sales in Japan, it started pretty good for new LS, despite mediocre reviews by old owners.

 

I checked out the new one at the Vancouver auto show and I think it had the best interior of any other car I saw there. Just beautiful inside, especially the rear seat. The S-class was easily outmatched inside. The new A8 is very cold and sterile inside by comparison, not inviting and not somewhere I'd willingly spend a lot of time. The 7er was a disappointing upscale 3er interior.

The exterior though is hit or miss, it's a bit overwrought. Still a notch above the bulbous and anonymous black taxi S-class, but I preferred the bodywork on the A8.

Unfortunately the LS and LC were the only two Lexuses that actually impressed me compared to the competition. The rest of the lineup has morphed into forgotten sedans (they didn't even have a GS there) and huge focus on ungainly looking SUVs.

The LC though is a stunning car. If I could pick one car to own it would be that. Easily prettiest in show and the interior was gorgeous too.

Of course I'm talking cars below the Rolls Royce/Bentley/supercars.

If Lexus was smart they'd take the LC/LS platform and spawn a new GS, a new four-door-coupe variant, and a replacement for the frankenstein platformed RC. Combine that with a decently styled RWD CUV on the same platform and I could compare the Lexus lineup to the Germans.

 

it is just normal model cycle - latest model works well, older ones get forgotten. With UX and LF-1, Lexus will become full lineup manufacturer comparable to anyone anywhere. By the all info we have, GS should become something like four-door coupe, or baby LS, not large fleet sedan like today, with ES being much more suitable to that fleet target demographics for people who need luxury badged sedan and buy them in droves with base engine options.

Some models will always end up looking old and stale at some point of their 6 year model cycle....

From new models, most surprisingly well done interior for me was UX, which seems way nicer than X1 or embarrassing GLA. If they can do that with new ES, it will be a huge hit for them.

 

The GS is a large fleet sedan today? In what fleets?!?

 

Agree, but it should be noted that the current gen GS actually held very consistent for a number of years.

2012 - 22,1920
2013 - 19,742
2014 - 22,198
2015 - 23,117
2016 - 14,878
2017 - 7,773

So 2015, the 4th year the 4GS was available, was its best. It wasn't until 2016 that it started to decline.

 

Here in Europe, sedans like 5, A6, E are sold by large to fleets (not rental). We get tax exemptions on these purchases, so companies often purchase them for their employees and use it as part of the paycheck (tax free). Basically these are our Camry's and most of them are sold to fleets with 2.0 diesels. There are stats for this, but I wont search right now for it, but I am pretty sure that in Germany, largest sedan market for these models by far in Europe, percentages sold to fleet are over 70% for these models.

It has turned the market completely, before 3.0 TDI Quattro was best selling model of A6, now it is 2.0 TDI FWD, quite often without full leather.

While not the same, even in the US, best selling engines for these cars are 2.0l 4cly turbos, which are very much far away from points that most people here make why GS sales are not good enough, worldwide.

 

not understanding this point i don't think... so outside of u.s., are you saying gs doesn't sell because it's not sold in 'fleets' to companies, or you're saying it has 2.0t just like others so it should sell? if so why doesn't it?