RWD market both small, medium or large is very real and posting very good numbers. Do SUVs sell more? Sure but RWD market is not going anywhere. It's just Lexus RWD that's gone from the market pretty much.

 

ES has a starting price of GS so it's not the same thing.

 

Facelift? Horrible. M340i Here I come.

 

no doubt M340 is the defacto car for the segment.

 

Clearly they disagree...

 

2021 Lexus IS June 9th world premiere has been postponed due to the ongoing world events. I was really looking forward to the reveal but I respect the decision to step back and allow more important voices to be heard at this time.

No new date has been announced yet.

 

Yep.

https://pressroom.lexus.com/lexus-po...ere-of-new-is/

 

Is the world event the introduction of the TLX Type S? Yea I believe so.

 

Maybe if the TLX was sold outside of the US and Canada. It is primarily designed in, made in, and only sold in the US and Canada. It is essentially a domestic car with a Japanese badge. I think the only thing designed in Japan is the Type S engine.

While I don't think this "New" IS is going to make too many waves, I'm still very curious to see what it's all about and how it will (or won't) differentiate itself. This car is on my short shopping list but if it fails to deliver I'll just wait for the new NX-PHEV.

 

i hope lexus originally planned for the 3is to stretch 11 years.

i mean why upgrade the chassis and do a heavy refresh (which ends up looking frankenstein) for just 4 more years? That's like half assing it.

if they really cared about their image...
at the very worst, make the life cycle 8 years, and do a complete redesign.

 

Clearly they could care less and learned nothing from LS debacle which also had 3 refreshes.

As long as RX and ES are selling its all that matters.

 

Yeah. They teased performance in the early part of the decade. Looks like Lexus has given up on that metric. Let's hope BmW gets a little more reliable so enthusiasts can have another choice. I think Acura is going sport so at least they are occupying the sport niche.

 

As the segment shrinks and consumers move to cross-overs, the Lexus IS becomes more and more irrelevant to the brand. I'd expect Lexus to partner with another brand for any new IS in the next 5 years.

 

Nothing stopping Lexus from developing a RWD based performance crossover to compete with X3, GLC, Q5, and Macan. That same platform can be shared with IS.
These things need to be planned out years in advance. X3 is in its 3rd generation and also has X4 variant for increased profitability.
If you have several models - it’s easier to justify the investment in new engines, platform etc.

 

I think the IS350 Fsport and GS350 Fsport were very good performance cars and both won several comparos against the Germans. They each also sold well for first 1-3years. Unfortunately there have been no updates since then to performance etc while competition has brought new products.
Now GS is discontinued and IS will get only refresh- so what can you expect to consumers to do?