MattyG

To a certain extent, this is about brand popularity vs driving purists and car critics. The issue here is this: a rwd car simply drives different from a fwd car. That's just how it is with some buyers. If all drivers want is luxury and brand, then any of these cars fulfill the requirement. If you really want a car that has luxury and some sporty dynamics, that's a rwd car. Audi gets around it with a longitudinal drivetrain and awd. Lexus hasn't done that with the ES, so that left the GS. Guess it didn't work out in Europe. IMO, not the same group of buyers.

pman6

It's OK. US production will stop soon enough.

the GS just can't compete. It's just the awkward one in the class. Not the most powerful, certainly not good looking either.

Stroock639

i know what you mean, the GS 400 was quite literally the fastest 4-door automatic production sedan back in 1998 (title eventually taken by the E55, thank you very much ), and now the entire model as a whole seems to be just clinging to existence. honestly with all the cars being turbo everything now, the good ol' N/A V8 just doesn't have that low end satisfying shove that the turbo cars do. when you go from a car with turbos to one without it will feel sluggish, so in a sense i feel the GS is bringing an M1 Garand to an AK-47 fight.

mmarshall

People don't buy a N/A V8 just for power, but refinement as well. That's what I suspect is going to cost the new twin-turbo V6 LS500 in sales compared to the former LS460. Of course, continued production of the LS is not threatened like it is with the GS.

coolsaber

True, but its not like they put the 4 pot in the new LS. Its been done before with other marques and knowing how Toyota as a company enjoy the master of none branding they`ll be fine.
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In regards to the GS, take it for what you want. If you want the GS to fail, well adds one more straw in your hat, if you feel this is their way of getting ready for the next gen, hey you have one more string to cling on to.

I betcha though the GS comes back as a powerhouse to the 5 and E class and still wont sell well and mags will sing praises, or if the GS comes back as a floppy T**** it still wont sell well and auto mags and posters out there will give it hell.

With the ES still alive and mimicking the GS size but being more of a value proposition, the GS is kinda murky territory.

ST430

Strange..on my trip to Europe last month, I saw plenty of newer GS in Paris. However, in Amsterdam and London, there were none.

This generation of the GS is just a lost cause at this point. The GS200t is woefully weak, the GS350 well outdated in it's powertrain, and the F cannot compete with the AMGs / Ms of the world.

I always loved the original GS300 and the crazy barnstormer of the GS400, but unfortunately Lexus has left it to languish since then.

Stroock639

well i mean other than just the F models, and while we may love the characteristics and sound of a N/A V8 i'm afraid there just aren't enough others to meet sales targets.

but take the GS 350 f sport for instance, for essentially the same money (just slightly more) you can have the totally new E400 which is very nice and also has a V6 but with 2 turbos. driving the GS after that would just seem heavy and unimpressive, and i love the 2GR it's a fantastic engine. it's honestly probably the one i'd go with were i to buy it and own it for awhile, but the majority of people in a position to buy one of those cars would probably be leasing it anyway and be more impressed by the E-Class.

b2884987

Also agreed. The ugly grilles just ruined it. I like the GS before the grille facelift was added.

RNM GS3

Johnhav430

I guess I look at it differently, exactly the way people seem to view the 2019 3 series having no manual (speculation for the USA bound ones). They say, good riddance! I say wth has the 3 series buyer become?

I don't feel the GS would be missed in any way, but I can relate that folks who own it would feel differently. But in reality, what is good about the vehicle? Go back to 1998, and you better believe that was one h*** of a car (GS400 or GS300).

Vladi

Sales of V8 in GS were in a domain of standard error. You also have to keep in mind that Lexus in early '00s was run and designed by mega-bean-counters so no wonder 3GS debuted with old V8. My thinking is that bean counters have suspended or slowed down the power unit development and pretty much killed off any new generation V8 due to hybrid investment which utterly failed just like V8. They simply didn't have a proper V8 to put in 3GS nor 4GS. While old school V8 kind of made sense in a luxury barge LS (that debatable too) in GS it was nothing but an outdated engine. IS-F engine was someone's baby or an experiment that was not certified for adoption. It took Lexus 10 years to adopt it across the range.

What's encouraging is that 4GS has outsold 3GS so far worldwide.

Johnhav430

Problem with the Germans is they've diluted the marques. Meaning, you and I know a C430 AMG is not an AMG, but many people do not. Many people do not know a M235i is not an M--why wouldn't it be? Don't you see the M logo on the floormats? Or that a M2 despite not having a S motor (I'm going to call it that anyway), is for all intents and purposes an M. Even Porsche, why build non S vehicles? imho it's all to appeal to a broader market. Back in the 1980s and 1990s, as my dad explained it to me, peasants could not possess these vehicles, it took a significant downpayment. The car mfgs are designing products around the $0 / $0 / $0 / $0

situman

It doesnt help that they crippled the V8 so as to have some separation between it and the LS, which was dumb.

situman

Been saying it since forever. Once they add AWD to the ES, they wouldnt be able to sell a single GS and it was dumb to have 2 sedans in the same segment.

situman

This is evidence of the mindset being carried over from Toyota. Unpopular models with no volume will get the ax. Thats why Lexus still has a ways to go in catching up to the Germans. Luxury cars are not always about volume. Lexus has to learn to cultivate, grow and improve their models and not only keep what sells.