The other day I spoke to the owner of a large Lexus dealership, and he recently attended a Lexus meeting in Japan (I don't know if all dealership owners were at this meeting or just a select few).

This owner told me the IS convertible was physically shown at the meeting (not just photos, but the actual car) and that Lexus said it will go on sale in March 2009 as a 2010 model (15 months from now). The car will have a retractable hardtop. The owner didn't say much on the coupe, but everything I have read indicates a coupe will be coming out, and sooner than the convertible. So, my guess is the coupe should be in dealers around fall of 2008 as a 2009 model.

Why the convertible and coupe were not out sooner is beyond me. Lexus should have had these variants available from day 1 to battle the 3 Series and/or G37. But at least there is confirmation on both the car and a timeline for its release.

 

Interesting. will love to see a hardtop conv. and coupe. coupe might look really tight. but prob rear space will be an issue.

 

Thanks for sharing the info. Did he comment on how different from the sedan the convertible looks?

 

He said the front end was very similar to the current IS, but the back end was different. He didn't elaborate much. I asked if the convertible was considered part of the 2nd generation or if it was a new 3rd generation car and he replied he thought it was still 2nd generation.

This particular owner does not seem to be a car guy, so I don't think he looked at the details of the car the way you or I would. He was probably more interested in simply learning what new future cars were coming out and when they would be in his dealership.

 

Here is a preview on the IS250 convertible

http://www.automotive.com/future-car...photos0-0.html

http://www.motorauthority.com/news/c...s-convertible/

http://www.automobilemag.com/future_...ble/index.html

 

Kinda reminds of me the Solara and the 3 Series....

Cant wait to see it.

 

nice to know. Thanks for sharing.