As predicted by AutoSpies.com, new Lexus ES350 setting new sales records!

So a car has to be 'sporty' to be interesting?

Rolls Royce also has 'class' and 'elegance'.

Rolls Royce's don't look like Pokemon. And they have less plastic in their interiors.


Will,

I'm not saying the ES is interesting, I'm just disagreeing with 24HOJ.

I know plenty of cars that lack sharp dynamics, but hell, I'd buy one on looks alone!

Not the ES though. My teeth are still my own.

Stats please...numbers

The Lexus is selling well and that is it. So even if you guys think that this Lexus is boring or whatever Lexus has made a car which appeals to its customers, isn't this what matters the most - making the customers happy?

People here like fast cars but Lexus owners I guess want comfort more right? I think for a change we should get over this Lexus vs Germany wars. It's getting old and the same arguments are made every single time.

Sales equates to one thing only. A high percentage of your target audience likes the car enough to buy it, for whatever reason. There is no doubt a large audience exists for what Lexus offers, so if they deliver a competent model to the target audience then the will have high sales to match.

I think one of the problems with Lexus and the hate a lot fo German car fans have to me is the fact Lexus is Toyota. You could look at Audi as being Volkswagen, but Mercedes and BMW are themselves, never have been based off a lesser, cheaper version of itself. I give Lexus credit for finally starting to get away from the Toyotas by actually marketing LExus now around the world (remember in Japan the Lexus was always a Toyota there, until just recently.) The other day I actually saw an ES350 on the road and it didn't look that bad, actually better than in pictures (the photos tend to make it look very bloated, in person it didn't seem to be as bad) My problem with Lexus was that stylistically they were boring. I like to look at a car and be like, Oh that is a such and such. I don't wanna have to get up to the bumper to recognize what kind of car it is, and older Lexus autos are like that, hard to tell it from a distance, until now, which I applaud Toyota for working more to separate the brands. I drove an IS and a 3series. Yes the 3 series handled better, and yes it drove better, but to me BMW hsa let us down inside, it felt kind of cheap compared to the Lexus. So just like Lexus has designed 2 different cars at a price point, BMW makes a different car, such is the beauty of a free marlet society. We all have a choice and what we choose is our decision. I don't think Lexus makes a bad car at all, nor does BMW, Audi, Mercedes, etc. They all appeal to different people. I remember when car fans would duke it out about BMW vs Mercedes....so it is funny to me to see Germany vs Lexus. If anything, I would say Lexus is more in line with Mercedes as a direct competitor (ride, handling, power). I am sure the ES is flying off the shelves, but so is the BMW 3 series which I see so many of here....

and ferdinand porsche worked for auto union.
but no, i didn't know that Will.\
when?
the 30's or something?

I think these sales are representive of a growing upper and middle class, particularly in the US.

Thus, Lexus has become the automotive choice of Luxury (for the new "rich").

will, that is interesting....
those Audis, they're just rebadged M-Bs.....
also, the original "mercedes" (not benz) was made by maybach and daimler, and was the name of the engine, then later the car (the mercedes 35hp)
when daimler and benz merged in 1926, they marketed cars under mercedes (to represent the daimler part, as the daimler name had been sold) and benz (to represent the benz part).

so a mercedes benz is a rebadged maybach...that is odd.
so wait a minute, if audis are rebagded m-bs and m-bs are rebagded maybachs, an Audi is a rebagded Maybach!

I actually don't mind the look of the new ES. (Except for that horrid dark gold color shown above.) If only it would drive like a 5 Series.........

"I don't want a luxury sedan, so anyone who does is a loser."

So goes the logic with the Lexus-bashing crowd here on Autospies.

The new ES does look good, but it isn't all taht much better than similar cars because of the L on the hood.

The ES looks like a fat kid who had his face stuck in a lift door.

It's all pudgy at the front like it has been pinched.

Rupert... Porsche never worked for Auto Union... He had a "consultation firm" which helped the designs of Auto Union, but then was employed by the state to run Mercedes-Benz Racing/Engineering...

Your logics sound funny though... its a twisted version of the truth... they were not rebadged...

huu76

BMWs have their own merits (just like Lexuses) but BMW (and Lexus to a slightly smaller extent) have become the "perceived" leaders because of clever advertising. Good overall products help, but the marketing campaign helps just as much.

huu76

BMWs have their own merits (just like Lexuses) but BMW (and Lexus to a slightly smaller extent) have become the "perceived" leaders because of clever advertising. Good overall products help, but the marketing campaign helps just as much.

jovi,
wikipedia misleads me.
"At about the same time, Porsche designed a racing car for Auto Union to compete with Daimler-Benz's Silver Arrows"
i don't know which of us is right.

yah watsup with the nasty gold color es they always showcase. ugly color in my opionion. ive seen one with white exterior and it actually looks good, to my surprise considering the last gen was pretty butt ugly

i thought it was "hear" or "listen" (both commands)
horch means hear in german, and audi means the same in latin.
i did latin at school, i should know.

1995,

you miss the point of the Lexus ES. It was created as an affordable luxury car, which BMW and MB does not have. Pure luxury for $35,000? Only the Lexus ES350 offers a great Mark Levinson stereo along with sumputuous leather, soft touch controls and a great engine (same awesome V6 used in the new Camry).

The ES was not produced to "boost sales", it was simply filling the void that is "entry level luxury". Name another "entry level luxury" model that comes close to an ES? The GS is a sporty car, but hardly luxurious compared to the ES. The 3 series sacrifices luxury for performance so it can be sold at $40,000.

Calling it a rebadged Camry is also inaccurate. The amount of "luxury features" in the ES still separate it from the top of the line Limited Camry. Enough so that it's worth paying the additional $5,000 for the ES.

I dont understand all the sour grapes. BMW and MB CHOSE not to sell an entry level luxury car (not sporty, luxury), so Lexus takes that market. What's the problem? A yuppy housewife wants a boring (she could care less about 0-60 or handling) luxurious car to drive the kids and go shopping, and Lexus responds with the ES. BMW/MB's loss.

People aren't buying Lexus cause they are boring. They buy them cause they are safe, reliable, luxurious and about $10,000 less than compareable German models. I have owned a BMW M3, Mercedes E55 AMG, and an Audi A6 and none of them have brought me the overall satisfaction that my Lexus' (ES 350 and GS430) have brought me.

Quizz

Pure luxury at $35K? Try and find one at $35K

And that Mark Levinson stereo, you're going to be in the mid 40's before you even touch an option package that has it.

Toyota makes a nice car, and I have driven most of them. They all drive like appliances, they have no soul. So I agree with one of the first posts, good riddance. Keep these people away from the G35s and 3 series. They don't need to be sissified any more thant they are.

The last ES did not differentiate itself enough from the Camry. This one has a much different appearance.

BMW is the only manufacturer to charge 2 grand and your first born for leather interior. Leatherette is a fancy word for vinyl.

bmwexpert:
Yes, that is a horrible color.