#NAIAS: Does The 2018 Lexus LS Have The Chutzpah To Shake Up The Mercedes S-Class And BMW 7-Series?

Lexus is no longer in the running for a top-tier luxury brand. The numbers say Mercedes is king, followed closely by BMW, with Audi trailing in third. Lexus's numbers are way off in the distance.

With this perspective, we see History: Lex has not competed against Mercedes or BMW (if they had, they lost sorely). With the look of this new car, it appears they have chosen again not to compete.

And that might not be a bad thing. As long as they sell enough units to the Lexus Loyal to be worth their while, then everyone - Lexus and their customers - is a happy camper.

Lexus doesn't have great LEASES LIKE THE GERMAN 3. SALES IS DUE TO THEIR LEASES- PEOPLE KNOW NOT TO BUY A GERMAN CAR...THEY LEASE IT! AFTER THE WARRANTY WHO WANTS THE HEADACH AND COST TO FIX THEIR POS....SO THEY LEASE GERMANS. 87% OF S,7,A8 ARE LEASED. WHERE AS 74% BUY THE LS! IF IT WASN'T FOR THE LEASE - GERMANS SALES WOULD DROP BY 87%!!!

The LS is a STANDOUT! LOVE THE AGRESSIVE GRILLE. i DON'T SEE TO MANY NEW "S"..IF I DID, I PROBALY THOUGHT IT WAS A "C" CLASS...boring! The last 7 i saw was back in 2004. And Audi A8...never. And i live in a DALLAS, TX.

@jameswisirik sorry but you don't know what you are talking about. LEXUS has given lots of incentives in order to get the sales crown back here in the US. Leases for under $300? You are better off buying an NX, ES, IS than a Toyota because of the great incentives Lexus is giving. By the way, the LS is not a standout, it is a great car but not a standout. It looks the same as my old LS460 except for the grille. The S-Class will always be king, event though I think MB messed up their strategy with all 3 cars having the same design (S, E & C). The LS will sell great the first year but it will then die out like they all do and will be back to 4th in sales. I like Lexus, I might even get an RX for the wife but the fact is that lots of consumers are not considering Lexus at the same tier as BMW, that has always been a fact. Just look at worldwide sales.

Lexus is not a TOP TIER Luxury car provider - it is a second tier - whose main products are a reworked Toyota Avalon (THe ES) - and a Reworked Toyota Rav4 (The RX) - definitely not top tier items. As such it competes with Infiniti - Buick, Volvo, Lincoln, Audi, DS, and a number of regional brands. It HAS NEVER been fact that the Lexus is on the same tier as a BMW - although BMW may sink Down to their level in the future. It is a joke to say Lexus is on the same tier as Mercedes - nonsense.

THe LS will compete with the Volvo S90 and the Buick LaCrosse - as well as the new Lincoln Continental - and it has big problems with those vehicles - and it will be priced well above its real competition. ANd that is why it sells so poorly against the real Upper Tier Luxury cars - it is a LOWER CLASS product.

Tom the LS sells like garbage because it's an 11 year old product. Toyota had a disastrous year in 2011 due to the earthquake and had to cancel development on it. They did a quick refresh and moved on. When the LS has been competitive it has sold very well or at the top of its class.

Also just as Germans charge a premium for their products so does toyota. It might pain you to admit it but they make excellent cars that are quite frankly better than their American counterparts. There is a reason toyota is valued at 200 billion.

As for this LS it doesn't look like it's as big of a jump as in 2007. It will probably sit next to the 7 series in the US but the S class will still rule for now. The engine looks solid though.

Come on, OOR....'chutzpah'?

How did this post get through the Autospies editorial review process?

OOR, you have never to my recollection, ever, used Yiddish in your posts! Why start now with a Lexus LS post? Offensive.

Barack Obama is still President...PC standards haven't yet slipped...please at least keep up appearances for the time being.

In a word: NO, but that is not what the LS is trying to do.

The LS is trying to displace sales of lesser vehicles like the dull A8, the all-new-is-old 7 Series, the old-and-ugly XJ, and the old-and-forgotten Quattroporte and it will do so very well.

Those cars' sales are very shaky. The LS will be better in quality and reliability than all of them and it is much more captivating to look at as well.

I'll bet it doesn't. The LS sold decently because it was a budget alternative to the Germans. The new one, however, is expected to be priced much more similarly to the S-class and 7-Series, and if it's priced in the $100k range those cars are, I don't think many people are going to choose it over them.

At first I was not impressed with this new LS. However, the more I look at it the more I appreciate the design details and especially the interior. I applaud Lexus for taking risks and moving away from doing copies of MB or BMW. This is a very Japanese design and will be successful.
And once again I find myself agreeing with MDarringer that Lexus does not have to top the S-Class to be successful, however it is a better car than the XJ, Maserati etc.
Cadillac is on their way, but they have got to step up their game on more emotional exterior and better quality materials on the inside. I know they can do it.

Not in the past not now and no ever German has always 7 years in advance on technology and everything , and japaneses always wait to see and copy like Chinese , Koreans is funny when you visit a car show you always see new concept surrounded buy Asian people eating cars with photos photos photos photos lol.....

The LS is no S-Class but it will outsell the 7 and easily the A8. And kudos to Lexus for offering a different form of luxury ala Japanese. This is definitely not a wannabe car.

@Jameswisirick... I live here in Dallas too in Uptown. You're kinda right we don't see many 7's, A8's or @exus around here. I see lots of Bentleys and S 550's though.
The LS has a lot of Infiniti in it. The grill is growing on me but I wouldn't purchase one ever. I also have to question no V8, the Acura route clearly hasn't worked. Until I see it in person I will reserve judgement but so far I'm not impressed.

It will be interesting for sure. It all depends on what Lexus is bringing to the table in terms of technology. The strength of the original LS was that it brought (virtually) bulletproof reliability where it didn't exist before. Sales were out the roof for many years. As soon as the Germans drastically improved their products, the sales picture changed. So, outside of dynamic, yet, derivative styling, what new element can Lexus bring to the table? Nothing really stands out to me, outside of its new platform. But the majority of buyers in this segment aren't requiring a driver's car.
From an exterior design standpoint, I'd take the Mercedes, then Lexus, then A8. Buyers will no doubt be drawn to its more drastic styling approach of the LS. But the Lexus has the profile of a larger Model S while being derivative of many other Asians products, so the impact out in the real may not be as dramatic.
From an interior design standpoint, I'd take the Mercedes, then A8, then Lexus. The LS looks cluttered. Those Shrek-ear-knobs at the top of the instrumental cluster just look awkward and, even with lighter colored trims, it just look a bit dour. The center console area looks very dated. The S-Class, despite is polarizing display panels looks airy, fresh, and sophisticated. If I wanted a more traditional dashboard layout and function, I'd easily go with the A8. The 7 isn't even in the running here.

A few more thoughts:

Marketing will be key. Lexus cannot market this as a driver's car. The core of their sales comes from non-driver's cars: ES, NX, and RX. The cars marketed as driver's cars, the IS, GS, and RC, are lagging significantly behind their direct competitors in sales results, and by a wide margin. If Lexus markets this as a driver's car, or anything less than a pure luxury car, then they risk the continued alienation of their core buyers, who are looking for luxury before sport.

The LS can no longer compete with the S but that's not the intention. It's a value proposition for a flagship and the targets are on the 7 series and the A8.
If you look at progress over the years from Audi and Bmw, you will understand why they are seriously lagging behind in terms of innovation and dynamic styling. BMW hasn't held the crown in handling for several years now. All they have to hold on to is their archaic design language and horrendous reliability records. Audi on the other hand produce good cars but are becoming kind of dull with their model line up looking identical.

The LS will always be a popular car and will likely outsell the A8 and 7. But that statement will ONLY be true in the US.
The popularity is within the States. Even in Canada, Lexus is 4th in the luxury sales race, well behind the German 3.
Globally, sales of Lexus vehicles will never be anywhere close to the Germans.

Global luxury sales domination is not Lexus' objective. Luxury cars are where the growth and profits are in the auto industry. Lexus is a growing brand still and also enhances the reputation of Toyota.

The grille is hideous and the external lines look like a stretched Fusion. The interior is nice however. And my guess it will have Lexus reliability. I can't get past the heinous grill.

The grill is for the buyer to decide on. Not my taste. More troubling to my eye is the very busy D-pillar. Window and door framing is multiple and makes it a distraction to the eye. Not sure how this got by as a design. Likely a mandate to make it more coupe like in appearance.

It looks great inside and out. It will challenge the S-class and crush the 7-series and A-8....

I would buy this lexus ls over benz s class or bmw 7 series on any days