UDel

I don't think it does either. If all it took to put the GS and mid sized RWD luxury sedans out of business was to just give fwd sedans AWD they would have done that a long time ago. A GS, 5 series, E class buyer is different then a ES buyer, I don't think AWD is going to make much difference especially if it is just a regular basic AWD system like with most Toyota's with no real performance advantages like torque vectoring. GS sold pretty well until the 2016 "update", that is when sales really started a downward trend aside from maybe a short term bump.

SW17LS

Personally? If they're not going to come out with an all new 5GS, they should cancel it vs continuing to sell an ancient 4GS up alongside the new competition from...everybody else. It just drags the whole brand lineup down.

evident

I've said it in other threads and i'll say it again. Killing off the GS is a boneheaded short sighted decision that basically says that Lexus is done competing with the germans, and that it's squarely in the same playing field as Acura, Buick and Lincoln.

Hoovey689

iTrader: (16)

If the ES250 had never been introduced and it was initially the LS and '93 GS, do you guys believe the GS would be more successful today?

SW17LS

All depends on how they kept up with updating the GS. History has shown us the GS certainly can be successful, it just needs to be able to compete with its peers.

JDR76

I think life got harder for the GS when the moved the ES up a bit. With the Avalon size, similar power as GS, added features, etc. it started eating into the GS' pie. They slid the ES up the scale but left the GS in the same spot.

peteharvey

I am not so sure about this, because the 3GS had a low roof line, low seating position, swoopy styling, with a fastback like rear with small trunk impractical trunk opening, yet the often considered stylish L-Finesse 3GS sold a whopping 33,000+ units in its first full year against 5ES which debuted on 82k+ in its first full year.

However, despite the 4GS package being higher roofline with larger trunk openings, and much more spacious inside - 4GS sales actually fell 33% down to just some 22k units in its first full year, while 6ES only fell 12% to 72k.

In that same period, the E Class lifted its peak sales nearly 20% from 58k to a whopping 69k, while 5 Series maintained its 56k peak sales.

3GS had a tiny interior, yet it actually sold relative to 5ES.
Hence I don't think it has to do with size.
Perhaps styling is more of a factor.
Consumers may prefer 3GS's swoopy styling over 4GS's practical box?

Keeping in mind that stats are fact, while our explanation/reasoning of the stats are only opinions...





What if Lexus came up with a major refresh in a 4.75GS just like your 4.75LS?
.

SW17LS

That would be better than nothing, but I think it still needs to be totally redesigned. They should have totally redesigned the LS in 2013 too.

peteharvey

Yes, very true.

GreyHound

iTrader: (1)

yeah, I would have bought a GS-F a couple years ago, maybe three years ago. But Lexus is still rolling with that weird looking grilles /front ends. That whole line even the Avalon has that
goofy looking wide mouth. Thanks but no thanks I'll keep my IS-350 with waterfall and melting dash, LOL
The Lexus dealer we visit had a nice black or very dark slate grey GS-F with black/ red interior. It was a super nice, couldn't get by the grill. couldn't do it.
So Lexus has missed my business sine 2006 , No new Lexus until they get rid of that horrible grill,
we love our IS-350 runs like a champ, owned it since it rolled off the ship!

situman

Many more people would have bought the GSF if it didnt cost $90k. It would have been a bona fide hit at $75k and become an instant cult classic.

EZZ

Honestly, they should have just brought an ISF. The M3 sells magnitudes better than an M5 because the size is more appropriate for sport driving. The V8 was also horribly underpowered compared to the competition. It should have been released as a GS500 to compete with the 550 and not a full F car.

Bamalana

There is a serious safety defect with the GS! This could be part of the reason sales are down. There is a Lexus Forum thread that discusses this issue. Some have hired attorneys to deal with this issue. I went from an ES to a GS but I'm done with Lexus because of this defect!

jwong77

What defect?

Bamalana

It is a steering issue. It pulls to one side at high speeds and it is not the lane assist. I turned that off and it stills does it. You should look it up and read all the comments. I think it's under "steering issue". I posted the original question in the thread.