peteharvey

Good thinking.
You're only too right.
If TMC follow President Akio's orders to stop making boring cars, then Lexus must keep the 5GS.

An AWD FWD-based 7ES that's nose heavy, with simple & cheap single lower link MacPherson strut front suspension that doesn't keep the front tires perpendicular to the road to maximize grip, simply won't do it.

MattyG

I agree. Nose heavy cars with a transverse engine don't usually cut it here. IMO, an ES is okay for people who like quiet, smooth luxury and a decent but innocuous style. These folks don't usually know the effects of rwd and awd when the torque is directed in one direction or the other. The GS, even in its present form had that rwd bias to give a driver the sense of knowing what rwd oversteer is and a planted but compliant suspension. Even there, the day to day handling of a rwd car is different. But then again, ES/RX customers are different from GS folks.

RNM GS3

peteharvey

He's contradicting himself - I think.

Or maybe TMC engineers just don't know how to design a car - they mistakenly think that it must be firmly suspended to be exciting?

Mercedes engineers wouldn't agree with that...

SNiiP3R

iTrader: (3)

Audi somehow survives with an FWD / AWD A6, Lexus might just follow Audi’s footsteps.

RNM GS3

peteharvey

But Audi uses their long wheelbase longitudinal engine MLB platform with a longitudinally mounted engine on a long wheelbase, as opposed to bread & butter VW's which uses the conventional short wheelbase transverse engine MQB platform.

Fizzboy7

Please my friends, do not believe what salespeople or dealerships tell you about future cars. They do not know, are generally not car people, do not have such information, are not given inside info, have rarely been right in the past, and are there to sell cars right then and there. It is all geared to get you to buy now, not wait for something later on. Basic sales 101.

situman

All current models are stopgap products since the GA-L was not ready. The current GS was still using the old platform, only with a 15% increase in a number of welds. From a marketing standpoint, it doesnt make sense to have both the ES and GS. Just make an AWD ES and at the same time, increase the size of the IS to almost GS size. Much more streamlined product line. If people must have a GS, make it into a niche product like a high performance 4 door sports coupe, but that will certainly kill the RC.

Gojirra99

The RC should have been a IS coupe in the first place, not with the the Frankenplatform Of the current car ......

UDel

Why not just give it better engines, ditch the 4 cylinder and hybrid nobody buys, and offer a affordable V8 like they did previously instead of killing either the GS or ES?

There are generally 4 things why the GS does not sell well and what they need to improve.

1) it is about the same size as a ES inside and out yet has way too much of a premium, buyers just ending up choosing the ES unless they really want something RWD.

2)the engines are no longer very impressive, the 6 cylinder is actually slower then the previous generation, likely geared for better fuel economy. The 4 cylinder does not belong in this car, the hybrid is way overpriced and does not offer much of anything over the NA 6 cylinder, no money savings in fuel with the premium you pay. A nice engine lineup would be the standard NA 6 cylinder with 315hp, a turbo 3.5L from the LS with about 415hp, and then a affordable 8 cylinder with around 430hp.

3) the styling is nice but it is way too similar to a ES, they are hard to tell apart unless you really know the cars. It should have lust worthy styling and be unique from a ES.

4)the interior is pretty spartan, especially with the non luxury, the luxury package is nice but is way too high of a premium to get much sales, they need to make most of the luxury package standard or a inexpensive upgrade if they are going to price it so much higher then a ES. It should get more room too since the LS is only being offered in a long wheelbase now.

oldcajun

Correct! I couldn't agree more. It would have been lighter and probably even looked better.

peteharvey

Audi has A4/A5, A6/A7 & A8/A9.
BM has 3/4 Series, 5/6 Series & 7/8 Series.
Benz has A Class & CLA, and E Class & CLS.

I don't think it's a problem at all.
It's more probably because my 4GS has a rather bland tail & bland dash that caused 2012 debut sales to drop to 22,000+ units from the my previous generation 3GS which debut with 33,000+ units in 2005.

Styling really sells.
After the badge, the next most important facet for consumers is the styling.

And disregard those who say that my 4GS debut sales figures dropped because of SUV's.
This is not true because in 2012, E Class sales passed a thumping 65,000 units, and Benz had another 8,000+ CLS sales on top.
.

situman

I thought the A series with odd numbers are coupes? The MB CLA and CLS are 4 door coupes with less space no?

bitkahuna

iTrader: (20)

it can kill sales too.

order is not hard and fast by any means. and badge can work against a brand too even on the high end... for years i did not want a mercedes or bmw because i didn't want to be someone who drove a mercedes or bmw.