JDR76

I think it could have, but it doesn't matter at this point as there is no 5GS.

timmy0tool

iTrader: (7)

wow the mirai looks more like a regular car, like a smaller LS! is it RWD?
color me impressed, but yes i'm also sad the GS is no longer with us.

situman

It is a sad truth indeed.

And they would have neuter it like when they put the 4.6 V8 in there. It will not be competitive and gets laughed out of the room.

sdls

it would give me warm and fuzzies to gloat as an LS460 owner but then I remember that my car is an AWD with a neutered 1UR-FSE.

So I got nothin.

Motorola

If it were a 5GS, it would probably have ended up with the same hybrid powertrains in the new Crown.

natnut

The new Crown hybrid has impressive acceleration.

Vladi

Good luck to Toyota with new Mirai, they are going to need it. Never understood the reasoning to cancel midsize premium sedan because of poor sales and then use it's blueprint to make even more of a niche premium sedan under T brand. That will all come back to haunt Lexus very soon no matter how many RX, NX, UX or whatever X they sell in the meantime.

situman

The fact that they wasted so much effort, time and resources on Hydrogen will come back to haunt them. It is the Beta-Max of future powertrains.

peteharvey

Probably because they just started a new venture where Mazda would share their forthcoming midsize premium sedan powered by a mild hybrid in-line six with RWD, while Toyota would share its HFCEV technology.

Back in 2008, the Chinese disputed with the Japanese over the ownership of the Senkaku Islands, and the Chinese with held sales of rare earth metals to Japan, such that from 2008 onwards, Japan began a new program so that it would no longer be reliant on China for rare earth metals.
Since then, Japan has now discovered a huge deposit of rare earth metals under the Japanese ocean.
Japan is presently mining rare earth metals in Malaysia, Australia, and apparently California - or something like that.
The US has also jumped onto the bandwagon so that the US is no longer reliant on Chinese rare earth metals.

Vladi

Mazda RWD inline turbo connection is 99% true but apparently it's for IS/RC only. Let's wait and see. What they did to IS this years is exactly what they did to LS in 2015, they killed it while keeping it alive. New IS will have a huge sales drop compared to all the previous ISes for its initial year. It's inevitable. And I even like the new refresh, I think its the best looking car in its class. Kind of wish they've saved it for the new model.

Toys4RJill

Just curious. What redesigned RWD sports sedan has had big year over year sales gains? Is there any out there? Sales of sedans are declining....

peteharvey

Japanese Mag X is very good at reputable leaks, and they are saying that the GS will be replaced by Mazda's premium midsize in-line six with RWD, while the major refreshed 3.5IS will be replaced directly by e-TNGA BEV.

Motorola

Mazda might make a new RWD 6, but it won't be a GS replacement. That ship has sailed, and I am tired of these silly rumors still floating around after Carmaker1 decisively killed them off.

Vladi

Never believed in BEV only IS rumors cause Toyota is not that stupid.They know better than to chase what cannot be caught, Tesla. And I'm not talking about technology, I'm talking about marketing and cult following.

coolsaber

Does it really matter though? Are folks going to change their current or future purchasing habits based on rumors of what Lexus and Mazda are going to come out with lol?