BEST LOOK YET As The Next Gen Lexus LS Gets Caught Testing In The Heat Of Death Valley

There will be a whole bunch of pent-up demand for the new LS. Customers really like it when it first came out in 2007/8 and since its been only mildly updated since then, many of those loyal customers moved over to the A8 (mostly - would be my guess from checking out who drives the A8 - i.e. mostly seniors).

This is going to do well, regardless and it will do fantastic if Lexus does a good job with it. It may even encroach on S-Class territory.

Maybe on the first year that is out it will encroach on S-Class territory but after that it will be another A8 / 7 series. This doesn't have any staying power. Lexus forte is the RX, MB is the S-Class.

The LS has no staying power? It easily obliterates the A8 for sales and does OK against the 7 Series. If anything the A8 is the turd of the bunch.

Lexus--like Genesis--is taking dead aim at the weak: 7 Series and A8. Both are dull and stumbling for sales relative to the S Class which pretty much outsells the LS, 7 Series, and A8 combined. If the LS can erode the 7 Series and the A8, that is a more important goal than targeting the S Class.

If the LS is stylistically beautiful like the concept that presaged it, BMW and Audi's positions become more precarious.

The key to these cars is unit profit. I was said that the 7 Series accounted for only 5% of BMW's sales, but 20% of it's profits. True or not, these cars are what pick up trucks are for the big three.

Excellent comment! I would bet though that Audi leads all the Germans across the range in unit profitability based on the use of VW platforms and engines across 80+% of their lineup.

Back in Daimler-Chrysler times when Benz quality was Americanized down to Chrysler level and LS was 54K to start, they sold 30,000 units one year in USA and most likely they though they had it made and slowly started raising the prices from Cadillac area to near Germans and then Benz dumped the poisonous bitch and their quality went up along with their sales numbers and the LS became an expensive car for no reason and that contributed to their present time sad sales

Of course the same car with Toyota badge and lower price tag sells good enough in some areas of the world and keeps this platform alive, if not it would've been discontinued long ago

Will sell well and will be the most reliable among the big cruisers. If you read the article Lexus is going after a more "driver-oriented" car so this will hurt more A8s and 7s than Ss.

So, here is where I question Lexus as a brand. Why try to emulate the two cars that aren't competitive in the upper-tier of the luxury market? Is Mercedes the only brand that truly understands what buyers are want? I can't help but think that this would do nothing but INCREASE Mercedes slice of the pie, as it will virtually be the only true big LUXURY sedan in Tier 1, while Audi, BMW, and now Lexus try to whoo the SPORTS/LUXURY crowd. I'm having a hard time understanding this approach, specifically by Lexus. They've taken this sporty-car approach and it really hasn't paid off for them. Their dominant sedan sales leader is the marshmallow ES. The IS, RC, and GS, aren't competitive on the sales charts against their respective counterparts. I'm sure the new LS will garner significant interest at launch, but I just don't know how long that will be sustainable, especially considering that its styling approach can be polarizing and trendy.