LS barely sells these days but I've read speculation that it will NOT be discontinued. We'll see. The new ES looks like a sibling of this:

https://carnewschina.com/2025/04/23/...-company-says/

 

True about the GS. That was specifically why I mentioned that the ES is Lexus's best-selling sedan. The GS was doomed because Lexus had a same-size sedan that was selling 20 times better: the ES.

It's true that there's no divine right for the ES to keep existing. We've seen very popular sedans from Impala to Fusion bite the dust. But unlike the GS, the ES is not very expensive for Toyota to build because it shares the Camry/Crown component set, and its margins are much higher than those cars. Even if its sales nosedive 50%, it's still selling several times better than the final GS was.

Now, the car that has vultures circling around it is the LS. Lexus used the telltale word "flagship" to refer to the new ES; that's LS territory. And Lexus's decision to expand the rear-seat executive package to this country—previously held back as the LS's prerogative—is to me a clear sign that the new ES is as high as Lexus cares to reach in the sedan world going forward.

 

If only manufactures weren't murdering them, sedans would still be fine.
Looks like the future of LS is also uncertain.
I prefer sedans because they are usually cheaper for the similar power train, low to the ground and they get more MPG.
I don't also buy into "if you have kids, you must have SUV". I grew up with sedans and never needed extra space.
Sedans have plenty of space. Kids these days want to be spoilt.

 

I've had critical words before for CT's posts that aren't about the ES, but I agree with every word of this. And yes, I'm quite sure this is on the U.S. Crown, which I also view as a very disappointing although unsurprising development.

The killer decision for me was to retain the U.S. Crown's clown-car height. It's been a spectacular sales failure in the U.S.—exactly as I predicted in writing—yet Toyota/Lexus executives have refused to take the hint. The one redeeming virtue of that decision was what I gather is the true hatchback on the ES. If that's in fact what it has, it means Lexus did listen to one criticism of the 7G: the widespread (and justified) grumbling about the lack of drop-down rear seat practicality. If not, the news is even worse.

 

It looks like they used Gen Z designers to design the car.
Gen Z then crafted a prompt to design it using AI 3d image generation and the 8th gen ES was born....

 

What would be nice is if they restyle the IS and make it the size of the current ES while keeping the sixer and rear wheel drive made in Japan. That would get me to a dealership for a test drive.

 

Agree, but only with a gas engine, a torque-converter transmission, and mechanical AWD. That's not too much to ask—all three Germans and Genesis have it.

 

Some may have missed it, but Lexus did try to damage control in their original press release which used the word “flagship”. A day or two later Lexus clarified that calling the ES their "flagship" means it's a core model for global markets, not that it's replacing the LS.

 

Same here, that would really interest me. A slightly larger IS, ICE, and running on 87 octane would interest me.

With this release, I've decided to buy a 7th Gen ES 350 F Sport and ES 250 (for the lady).

Hybrids & BEV will never do it for me.

 

Talk about phoning it in and then some.

BZ7 rebranded to an ES.

 

We also grew up without airbags, antilock brakes and HDTV. Not sure we're ready to do without those things these days.

 

I saw that and referred to it in another comment.

 

Remember when we used to all have strong grips from rolling up and down the windows.

 

Agree.

Whoever at Toyota/lexus came up with this should be fired.

 

And the wheels that look like they came off a Tesla.