703

Toyota released that render years back. I just downloaded the high res of it, and enhanced the contrast. ( btw Toyota removed the render from their website since then, as they gave away too much lol)

pretty much all Lexus models released since looks like the render. Not expecting ES to be different.

703

that’s what Toyota did with the new Camry. Side profile is the same. Rear is just some new tail lights.

Wilson2000

When visiting the dealers recently to test drive ES's, I saw the latest redesigns of other offerings like the RX and TX, and was not impressed. Based on this and on recent redesign history, Lexus will undoubtedly maximize the quirkiness of the 8-gen grill and front end. One must hold one's nose if sticking with the model/brand for its positive attributes. It shouldn't be when spending $50-60K! WTF Lexus?

alextv

Has Lexus officially announced when the redesign will be? My dealer says no and everything out there is pure speculation.

LexFinally

Or one must throw a paper bag over ITS nose.

mikemu30

That's all it is.

703

When? No one outside of corporate knows.

Speculation? Not at all. To be fair, your dealer knows nothing, they typically only told close to launch like the media. The renders are official from Toyota/Lexus in Dec 2021, not some random dude's sketch or AI generated. Look at the background (I have the high res):

Here's the proof:

Original:



I have done image and contrast and exposures adjustments:

Since Dec 2021 of the render, we have the LBX (from the left - announced June 2023). RX (4th from the left - announced May 2022), TX (5th from the left - announced June 2023). They look exactly like the production models. Therefore the ES is the only one left from this render as the next generation that is not released. So that is 3/3 - i.e. 100% track record of the render showing future production models.




I have also attached .ZIP of the above adjusted image if you want to look at the detail in full resolution.

And below applying my own upscaling (click to see higher res):



What the media people didn't realize is that when you adjust the image post render (i.e. darken the background out), the pixels are still 100% there and the darkening can be reversed. If they had a darkened render to begin with, the above wouldn't be possible. Add to the fact that graphics can be easily upscale cleanly, you have the above in insane detail that Toyota/Lexus didn't think we'd see. But here it is!

LexFinally

Exactly right. These posts were first shared on this site in Car Chat by the Toyota-connected poster who posts here under the name Carmaker1. He explains there that Lexus released this during the height of the EV frenzy a couple of years ago to counteract the stock-market backlash against Toyota for not having a forward-facing strategy that included electrification. Lexus's response was to show its hand for all its planned new-vehicle launches in the next several years. As pointed out in this thread, the first couple of cars since released have proven to conform to this preview 100% (except the grilles, which they left vague on purpose just to avoid giving the whole store away). There is every reason to believe this blueprint will continue to be followed, and no reason yet to doubt it. Reciting over and over "none of us knows anything" is a self-fulfilling prophecy by those determined not to know; it is contradicted by the evidence.

Wilson2000

While the rendering is likely in the ballpark of what the 8-gen will look like, the devil is in the details, and the details are missing. Too, it's the details where Lexus designers go astray. They can't seem to differentiate between "edgy" and "quirky!"

Auto design is not easy. A designer's work must walk a fine line between attempting to look fresh and new, while not appearing odd or too trendy. Very few designs are home runs. I'd be happy with a double or a triple...my fear is a strike out!

If the 8-gen has a face only a mother could love, I'll likely switch brands (Toyota/Lexus) for the first time in 40 years. I like Audi's designs--clean and understated.

I liked LexFinally's "paper bag" suggestion. Although, double-bagging might be required for some of the new Lexus offerings (two bags in case the first one falls off)!

LexFinally

Thanks. And, I agree with you about Toyota/Lexus's historical numbness to design details; it is the opposite of Audi's tasteful restraint. If I could buy a V6/AWD sedan that behaved like a Lexus and looked inside and out like an A6, I'd be all over it. (Which was why it broke my heart when they diverted the tastefully understated design of the next GS to be the unusable Mirai instead.) As Exhibit A, see the previous-generation Prius. I guess we'll have to rely on the successive Prius to give us hope.

Wilson2000

Good point LF! I always wondered why Toyota didn't try to make the earlier-gen Prius designs more mainstream. Then they came out with the hybrid Corolla and Camry, which proved it was possible to make a normal looking hybrid. Now, with the latest-gen Prius, they not only went more mainstream, but also threw in some sportiness!

Lexus: Please move in this direction for the next-gen ES...more mainstream, more sporty; less quirky!

Shaboom

“Lexus: Please move in this direction for the next-gen ES...more mainstream, more sporty; less quirky”

Are you suggesting the current generation ES 350 is, to some extent, “quirky?” How so? Not arguing, just genuinely curious.

LexFinally

Waaaaay too late. The design, whatever it's to be, was locked in at least 18 months ago.

As for the Prius, reportedly the design team was ordered to deliver two options to management: a mainstream successor to the Gen 3 Prius, and a wider alternative. To the design team's own shock, management picked the wacky one. One can only speculate why, given the company's famous conservatism. But that was the era when Akio Toyoda had issued the order that Toyota had to stop making boring cars. So, in a peculiar reverse sort of way, one could view the wackiness decision as a sort of managerial conformity. There's a saying in Japanese culture that "The nail that stands up tallest gets hammered down." Presumably nobody in the room wanted their career turned into a nailhead.

Wilson2000

Yes, all Lexus models adopted the gaping, large-mouth bass grills. In my book it's quirky, but to each their own. It looks especially bad on the big SUV's--the bigger, the badder!

Wilson2000

I know it too late, I'm just venting. It's not like Lexus listens to customers anyway. If they did, they would have a lot more desirable models to offer, and I wouldn't be eyeing Audi!