You Can Blame The Lackluster LS460 Redesign On Recalls And Quakes

...either that or something big is in store for the future model.
We could see a complete redesign around 2014.

no you won't. like it or not, this is the redesign. What you will see is upgraded engines in 2 years.

Doubtful. Car makers work on redesigns years in advance of their introduction. Lexus certainly had plenty of time and resources to completely redo the ES and GS so one would absolutely think that they would devote the same amount of time and resources to their flagship.

With R&D and PD, by the time the 2011 tsunami/quake hit and the recalls hit Toyota, a "new LS" would have essentially been close to complete in design and execution, in time for a 2012/2013 introduction. The year or two prior to its intro would have been spent testing and refining, etc, not creating a completely new design.

Sort of sounds like they took the big sellers and made sure they were done right and gambled on a less volume refresh.

generally agree with you. Lexus decided that they wanted the next model to have similarity to the outgoing model. Like they did with Gen 2 LS 430. like Audi does with every model. always. Like the new Range Rover. Like the upcoming S Class.

What Lexus can blame the disasters for is not having any new engines ready, especially the hybrid. This will be rectified in 2 years.

The car design is what it is. Haters will hate. Next.

There won't be another design for 2014. This refresh will last for at least 3 years.

This new generation (not refresh) will last 5-6 years, with a mid-cycle refresh. People better get used to that fact. It was not a refresh.

009, but that decision had nothing to do with the tsunami or recalls as that decision would have been made well before those occurrences.

this earthquake excuse has been beaten to death already. give us a break. so we are to believe that an earthquake last march killed all creativity and derailed a 4 or 5 years development timeline for a new LS? please.

does the earthquake also retroactively explain the boring looks of the pre-refresh LS?

Holding your bitterness at bay (no easy feat), you are right, the earthquake/tsunami/floods/witchhunt have nothing to do with how this car looks. It looks the way the designers wanted it to look.

Add btw, the outgoing model is a very attractively styled sedan which will age well in years to come (unlike certain BMWs). And that is why Lexus chose not to alter the formula much.

so why have LS sales been declining steadily for several years now? they're down to 500 or so a month. that's not so great considering that competitors costing $30k more are selling double.

see my comment below.

...Yeah, I agree with Agent009 and -thetruth01.

...The truth that is, Lexus is not gambling with the gradual success of it's flagship.

um, gradual decline. LS volume has been on a downward trend for several years now. in recent months, it's been selling around 500 units and the refresh is still months away.

lexworld, exactly.

enthusiast, really for several years??? As it has aged, the LS sales have dwindled. But really only significantly since 2011 (which did include the little matters of earthquakes, floods and witchhunts).

The LS was the bestseller of its class in 2008 and 2009, was second to the S class in 2010, and only wound up 3rd last year. So yes, its sales have declined, but not for SEVERAL years. And its rivals' sales have decreased also. Nobody has the sales they had in 2008, everyone crashed in 2009, everyone beat their 2009 sales in 2010, and they were all down again in 2011. But this is not several years worth of declines. BTW, the S Class, ending its model run, is also well off its highs, despite leading last year. The BMW, newest of the three, not surprisingly, leads this year.

You know how this works. Yet you look for trends where none exist.

I though Lexus' patented lackluster and bland designs. Not sure how this model is any different.

@supermoto

Yeah, just like the "lackluster and bland" redesigned 2013 Range Rover which looks almost looks exactly as it did in 2002! LMAO!