comotiger

Hi all,
I attended an LS500 event yesterday and had the opportunity to examine the car and its features closely. I am happy to say that I am thrilled to own a 2014 LS. While the LS500 is gorgeous, it does not seem as spacious as the LS460. It's longer than even the LWB of the 4LS, yet it does not have the imposing presence of the current generation. The infotainment upgrades (HUD, Surround view camera) are good but not as big an upgrade as I was expecting. If you are interested, I have posted photos and videos on the 5LS page.
https://www.clublexus.com/forums/ls-...500-event.html

R Z

I've never been a fan of the 500. I'm sure it will do just fine in sales, but for me the 2014 would be just fine as well.

JLAWS

Lexus is content with being one step behind the Germans. No V8 option is a huge fail. Yes the tt V6 puts out more power but power delivery and sound will not be as refined as a V8.

dlbuckls10

I saw the new LS 500 at the new car show in Houston yesterday and I'm not impressed. Its looks downgraded, cheaper and it didn't draw a crowd. The LS 500 seems smaller, lower, and narrow. Its not eye catching or imposing like the 460. The instrument panel reminds me of a video arcade machine. I was expecting it to be more grand.

FatherTo1

Thank you for sharing, comotiger. Very surprised, and disappointed, about the interior volume assessment. Bigger car and less room does not sound good.

yyymmm31

According to Lexus group VP and GM, Jeff Bracken, Lexus won't care how their traditional customers think about the new extreme style of their cars. Bloomberg Magazine quoted Bracken, “It’s a very purposeful and strategic move on our part. If we lose some of our tradition owners, it’s unsettling for us but won’t preclude us from moving down this path. We hope to gain more [customers] than we lose.” (quoted from Motortrend website). It looks that most of us on the LS forum fall into Bracken's category of "tradition owners". It is interesting that why Lexus is so stubborn as to keep thinking that younger people like the extreme (to me, ugly) style they have put on their newer cars. For me, if it were not for Lexus cars' reliability reputation and my knowledge and skills gained from owning Lexus/Toyota cars, I would have jumped the ship at the first sight of Lexus's new (ugly) front face for LS in 2013.

SW17LS

Saw your thread and pictures. All reasons why I decided to get my 2017 when I did, the 2017 will be a car I should be able to happily drive for a long time...

Best of luck to Lexus on the new path, but the products I've seen just don't appeal to me any longer.

Dave144239

One thing about that grill, a front plate is going to look awful on it.

UDel

yyymmm31

The attitude that Lexus is taking today looks very similar to what GM had with its Pontiac Aztek. When Zatek was first shown to the pubic, most people said it was ugly. Only GM/Pontiac designers and management thought it was of a great design. Even most GM/Pontiac sales people and dealers didn't like its look. However, Pontiac designers and management believed that Zatek would attract more customers, particularly young customers (sounds similar here). We all know the end of the story with Zatek. It looks Lexus is going down the same path. Since 2013, each iteration of its cars looked uglier than its previous cycle of cars, and only Lexus management and designers think that their newer cars have a more aesthetic look than their old ones. Is history worth learning at all?

mbarron37

SW17LS

You have to realize though that Lexus sales are up since their new styling and dynamic direction, not down. So, while it may not be to your taste its hard to say that it isn't working for them.

yyymmm31

You are right. The overall sales of Lexus vehicles in the US since 2012 has been increasing per CarSalesBase: http://carsalesbase.com/us-car-sales-data/lexus/ However, for LS, since 2013, the volume of sales has been consistently down: http://carsalesbase.com/us-car-sales...exus/lexus-ls/ It's interesting to compare LS sale volumes in 2007 and 2013 in the US. In 2007 when LS460 was first introduced (refreshed from LS430), Lexus sold 35,226 LS460s in the US. In 2013, when Lexus refreshed LS460 with the new spindle grille, only 10,727 LS460s were sold in the US, which was 30% of their LS460 US sales in 2007. Last year, Lexus only sold 4,094 LS460s, which was only 11.6% of the number of LS460 sold in the US in 2007, and 20.9% of the number of LS430s sold in the US in 2006 (the last LS430 model year). Perhaps, for LS owners and potential buyers, the spindle grille isn't that attractive.

SW17LS

There are many reasons for that, and if you look at flagship luxury sedan sales they are all dramatically down since 2007. The rise of SUV and crossovers as a viable replacement for flagship luxury sedans, and remember we suffered a financial collapse in 2008. Plus remember, the LS460 last year had been out for 10 years, and while sales were much smaller, it still outsold the A8, XJ, etc.

You have to look at the whole segment to see how the car is doing.

I'm surprised if you dislike the spindle grill so much why you bought a current GX? One of the uglier spindle grilles IMHO.

UDel

Sales of the GS and LS are down, way down since the updates with the big grills and previous generations, GS never really achieved good sales, first year or 2 was decent. IS sales are sliding. Lexus has a entry CUV that is helping over all sales and the ES and RX seem to sell no matter what.