UDel

Nobody would buy it. Look how poorly the GS hybrid sells, a electric would be a much poorer seller which means maybe 3 or 4 a month. A electric would be the final coffin for the GS or a mid sized Lexus.

BippuLexus

No demand? As much as I hate Tesla - their Model 3 drew massive hype. If a car company is able to make a 30-40K pure electric car, it'll destroy the market and win. There is a high demand for electrification. The world is moving towards green energy and this is coming from someone that hates electric cars.

They GS hybrid sells horribly because its not a good hybrid... Its a 60K+ hybrid that is huge.

If the Lexus GS was made pure electric with similar performance figures that of a Tesla Model S while costing 70K, it'll destroy the competition.

peteharvey

If Lexus could make a GSb/GSe battery powered electric vehicle BEV that could do 0-60 in 3 to 4 seconds, Mr Rhambler would be ecstatic!

evident

a 300h engine wouldn't make parking spaces much better to get in... but yes the engine size is important and there's really nowhere you can go fast here anyways.
german vehicles are are pretty revered here and more popular than people make them out to be... moreso than lexus from my experience.

UDel

Tesla sells because it is Tesla, it is the image/name people are buying, not because the car is so great, the 3 is ugly, has a awful interior, and has compromises yet it is affordable enough for a group of people who want the Tesla image/hype but could not afford the S so it got a ton of pre orders.

Same with the Prius, the Prius sells because of the Prius environmental name/image/hype, not because it is a great car. The Lexus CT was basically a luxurious Prius and it sold poorly because it did not have the name/image buyers were looking for that says I am saving the world and being "responsible" by driving a Prius.

Outside of Tesla and Prius there is very little or almost no demand for hybrid or electric cars/luxury cars in the US, the US is not moving to electric/so called "green" energy any time soon. It is mainly all about name, branding, image, hype which Lexus or other makers simply don't have when it comes to hybrid/electric cars and Prius and Tesla does. Lexus can make a electric only GS, even if it is good it will not sell because the GS is simply not associated to the green image/hype and that is mainly what those types of buyers want, there is unlikely enough of those types of buyers for a market full of electrics or hybrids, Tesla's and the Prius gets most of them and I doubt that will change any time soon. I am talking about the US market, not the European market, I doubt a electric GS would be big in Europe or Japan either, they may sell better because of their moronic regulating everything to be hybrid or electric but I still don't see them being big.

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

webra

webra

BippuLexus

If Toyota's true idea of performance is to leave it to Toyota brand and use BMW engines, they'll be making a mistake. Toyota's largest selling point is reliable cars. If Toyota double downs on BMW sourced engines for performance, they'll lose their reliability reputation.

I'm one of those people that think the Toyota Supra should have had the LS TTV6 instead of sharing an engine with the Z4. The only thing "Japanese" about the new Supra is the design and badge.

arentz07

Yeah. I would rather have uniquely Lexus engines. I guess it was more important to them to just have any inline six engine in the Supra than to spend the time developing one themselves.

Inline sixes are making a comeback, however. I think it'd be cool if Toyota had developed one. They could use it in other products.

BippuLexus

Yeah. I agree. I find it important for Toyota to make their own engines. Whether it be for Toyota and Lexus - Toyota has to make their own. This will allow them to source it to other cars within their line-up and retain their reliability status. I love BMW Inline6 Twin Turbos - they are really good engines but they are completely crap in reliability.

Maybe its just me. But I don't think the Supra will sell that well if the rumors hold true.
Its apparently going to be in the 60K range, with a BMW source chassis, with a BMW Source engine, BMW source gear-box, and will be made in Austria. The only thing Japanese about is the Badge, Design and tuning of the engine. I don't think the Supra name will carry the sales. Secondly - for that money - you are in BMW M2 CS territory. Why would someone pay 60K for a BMW Supra over a BMW M2? But someone might pay 60K for a legit Toyota Supra over a BMW M2 though.

Johnhav430

btw my n54 has been 100% reliable, I listened to the unreliability talk and bought a factory extended warranty. Yep, I lost.

But I would agree Toyota Motor should be producing their own engines, because a Toyota buyer is expecting a certain level of set it, and forget it. There's no way Toyota lacks the resources to produce a good engine.

BippuLexus

I'm not going to deny that there are cases of BMW owners experiencing good reliability regarding their vehicles. However - I'm talking about the general census here. In general, BMW reliability and resale value is not good. I remember the N54 engines had High-Pressure Fuel Pump failures.

Agreed on the last bit. Toyota buyer expects something. And the common Toyota buyer might not want to pay 60K for a BMW sourced Supra. And the common BMW buyer might not want to pay 60K for a BMW sourced Supra when they can stay BMW loyal and get a BMW M2 CS. Toyota definitely has the money to make a good engine - its just that they don't want to which is not a smart move.

My0gr81

BMW engines are reliable, it's the sensors, electronics and peripherals that are unreliable (cam shafts sensors, fuel pressure sensors, fuel and water pumps, etc) that fails leading to engine failure if not detected and corrected fast. Add to that poor quality plastics and esoteric couplings in key hoses, and you have overall unreliability around an otherwise strong engine.

webra