The 2014 Lexus IS is expected to make its official debut at the 2013 NAIAS in Detroit
08-15-12, 04:57 AM
#167
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I have now heard that there are apparently disguised XE30 prototypes testing around Torrance, CA, so we should expect spy pics hopefully soon. The person who said this is the same guy that said in March the 2013 LS would be a facelift, with a very accurate description of the changes. He turned out to be very correct and obviously works for Lexus.
Though as I have gotten older and tired of teasers and camo-pics most of me just wants to see the real thing. 
08-15-12, 05:35 AM
#168
C&d
Joining the Bavarian automakers, Lexus’s future lineup of sedans will be better described as “small, medium, and large” than as 3 disparately styled vehicles. We’ve learned from sources on a number of continents that when the next IS comes to market for the 2014 model year, it will draw heavily on the look of the new GS and revised LS. The smaller IS could be even more aggressively styled as the company tries to make a name for what has been a relatively anonymous entry. It’s possible we’ll see the car as early as September, at the Paris auto show.
“When you’re a challenger brand . . . you can’t afford to be evolutionary,” a Lexus exec recently told Australia’s The Age newspaper. To that end, we’re expecting a rakish IS sedan, which may be shaped to look particularly low and wide, like the current IS F. The teaser image above, released earlier this year, shows the IS’s corporate “spindle” grille—an attractive design feature that probably didn’t need as much attention as Lexus has given it—along with a liberal use of high-intensity lighting, including LEDs.
We’ve also learned that the U.S. is unlikely to see the hybrid version of the next IS. It’s being developed with Europe in mind, where Lexus has defined its brand as a luxury hybrid company. (In England, for instance, the RX and LS are offered exclusively in hybrid form.) In the U.S., however, Lexus’s hybrid-focused marketing strategy has had only mixed results. The CT200h sells pretty well, and roughly one in eight RX sales are for the hybrid. But customers never warmed up to the last-gen GS450h, and Lexus dealers move fewer than 10 LS hybrids per month. Adding heavy, expensive, complicated batteries and motors to the IS probably just isn’t worth it for a few dozen sales, which can instead go to the ES and CT hybrids.
Unfortunately, our sources haven’t been able to pass along any info about the next high-performance IS F. But we haven’t given up yet.
09-02-12, 11:44 AM
#174
This was posted in the IS forums as a possible spy pic of the new IS:
http://wot.motortrend.com/files/2012/08/Mystery-spy.jpg
http://wot.motortrend.com/files/2012/08/Mystery-spy.jpg
09-02-12, 04:19 PM
#176
09-02-12, 07:22 PM
#177
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09-02-12, 07:26 PM
#179
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Aesthetically this car has big shoes to fill. The current model is one of the best looking cars in its class, its title only recently usurped by the redesigned 3er.
09-02-12, 07:36 PM
#180
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Companies like Benz and Lexus have flagships that push the whole luxury market forward. Truthfully, the A8 and 7 Series have never really pushed the luxury market forward that much. Historically it has been the S-Class and LS, so of course the S-Class and LS always have features the other vehicles in the lineup don't have, as an example.
More importantly, we haven't yet seen what the new IS actually looks like. People as usual making ridiculous conclusions based on a heavily-camouflaged spy pic of the car.
