cajun

Space limitations aside, perhaps a consideration for the omission of a third row seating option for the next generation RX was so not to negatively affect sales of the GX...

AlexusAnja

Every time I hear "the RX sells well, so why change the formula" opinion, it drives me crazy. The reason you can't rest on your laurels is the Ford Escort. At one point in time, the Escort was the "best selling car in America." Where is it now?

Economies are constantly changing, people are changing, opinions of certain vehicles are changing. I really don't believe the GX will be around very much longer. It suffers the "middle child" syndrome of not being the little one, but at the same time not being the biggest one. It drives like a truck, which most buyers don't want. The LX is too expensive, so for MANY buyers (myself included) we were hoping the RX would gain a 3rd row, albeit not HUGE room, but something for emergencies. We were not expecting 7-passenger seating and room for all their cargo.

With this... we're done. We have to move on to either a MDX, Acadia, or maybe even a CX-9. Sorry Lexus... it was nice having a CUV with, but now nothing else fits me. Maybe I'm in minority, but only sales numbers will tell if Lexus was right or not.

AndyL

Good observation about ES350.

The doors and the center dash on RX seem to follow more with ES350. To me, I find the RX center dash look much better than the ES. I sat in an ES the other day, and somehow the center portion of the dash does not glow on me.

Rexus300

iTrader: (1)

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If you look at my post in the bottom of the 2010 RX so dissapointed, I also highly believe that the new RX will fail in sales compared to previous generation. There was not much effort put into the redesign and too much boring carry over shapes with more ugliness. Just like how you said the escort failed and how I believe the Ford Taurus, Jeep Grand Cherokee, Acura RL, Nissan Maxima failed their previous gen because of poor design, ideas, innovation, and etc.

cajun

Not sure if the 2010 RX will fail. It will most likely sell well. However, anything short of being Lexus' BEST-seller would be considered a major disappointment; which remains to be seen, particularly in the current economic climate.

oldcajun

I'm not sure in the current environment that an SUV of any kind would be Lexus's best seller. The new small hybrid sedan may very well become a best seller if the price is reasonable and they can be built in reasonable volume. Many people are finding that they can live with a sedan like the ES350 and save on purchase price and fuel costs without giving up a certain amount of luxury. Today's cheap gas prices will not last much beyond the time the economy recovers and people start driving again.

As I have said before, I really like the compromise Lexus made on the new RX and think it will sell pretty well considering the rest of the auto market. Will it match the sales of the '07 RX - probably not. But making it bigger, heavier, and more expensive to get a 3rd row of nearly useless seating would not have helped that.
Steve

encore888

Yes indeed...I do think though that the RX dash will be seen as more polarizing, but perhaps in-person the reaction is different. I like the view straight-on and from the driver's side...the passenger side not so sure.

cajun

The 2010 RX should remain Lexus' best-seller, at least following its initial launch. Moreover, last month, the current model outsold Lexus' second-best seller, the ES 350, by more than 1000 units and did so in a particularly difficult sales market and in its sixth year of the model design.

AlexusAnja

Sales numbers are deceptive, especially during a model's last year. I know that in NJ area, Lexus was virtually giving the RX away, selling at invoice or below. A friend who went car shopping for an SUV was cross shopping the MDX and X5 and nothing was selling well at the time and everyone was very competitive. She got a quote from one dealer in south Jersey for the RX350 with AWD loaded for $150 below invoice.

With sedan sales somewhat still strong and I would imagine not too much dealing close to invoice, then of course if Lexus wants to give RX away, then people will take the offer.

Look, only time will tell how this does. It might surprise everyone and be just boring enough to please the "typical" Lexus buyer.

GoodDrivin

The next gen looks good. The new headlights are neat. The body is ok, pretty much the same as before I think. Don't know why some are so against it, isn't that why they were considering the rx to begin with?
The L interior is a bit odd, not something that conservative buyers look for I think. I think something more like the lx470 would have been nice.
The new navi is not nice. I love the current touch type navi, if they wanted to provide a mouse, they should have just provided a touchpad, like on a laptop. The mousy joystick thing looks weak.
The rear entertainment is nice. Although I think it'll be a rear safety hazard in an accident (or is that just me being jealous?)
Yes, third row - no matter how useless, would have been a nice option. Wonder if it's a safety issue, since only kids would typically sit there.
I rate it 8 out of 10.

cajun

I would otherwise agree; however, sales of the ES actually fell more than that of the RX in October 2008 when compared to the previous year.

cajun

Design and style debates aside, the one clear consensus is criticism regarding the removal of the touchscreen navigation interface.

kalvano

I think this new interface will actually be better than the touchscreen. The touchscreen limits a lot of design ideas because it has to be accessible to the driver. This way, they can set the screen way back.

oldcajun

I don't think there is a clear consensus on this item. Having used the Infiniti nav which offers touch screen and controller, I find I much prefer their controller to the touch screen. If the new Lexus controller is as user friendly as the one on the Infiniti, it will be an improvement. The Lexus controller looks much different than Infiniti's but the location is even more convenient so I am hopeful that this will be a big improvement. In addition, the new voice command sounds like it will finally become really useful, maybe to the point of being the primary interface with the nav. This would difuse the complaints about lockout will in motion.

I can hardly wait to try the new model, even though my lease is not up until next December.

Steve

The G Man

Touch screen are easy to use but all the finger prints makes it high maintenance. I find that some of the non-touch screens control systems out there are just as easy to use as Lexus' and you can operate it while you are in motion.
As far as the RX's interior looking a lot like the ES, the center console is totally diff. The ES' center console is pretty ugly to start with, but it actually looks much better than the new RX'. Quality wise, the new RX is pretty poor. I hope the new RX will not follow in its foot step. One thing is pretty certain, after the initial surge of sale of the new RX, its sales number will most certainly drop off well below the current GX's sales number.