Rumor Mill: Lexus GS May Be On The Chopping Block Leaving Even More Room In The Segment For The 5-Series

No surprise here. I haven't seen a GS on the roads of T.O. for quite some time. Or maybe I have but mistaken it for the ES. Hmmmm.

Not surprised, those things are hideous.

Interesting how many years they need to know that.

1 ugly down, 14 left to go.

Always the ugly duckling of the Lexus lineup. I never understood the side profile "coupe like" window treatment. Reboot it with a better midsize car.

I think this would be a mistake. If, per the article, Lexus will rely on the ES as its midsize offering, then the FWD config and the general luxury-nature of the ES, undermines the image Lexus has been trying to cultivate for a few years now, that of a sporty offering.
On top of that, there will be a significant price gap between the IS/ES and the LS and I'm not sure that's good for the brand and customers may lose the continuance of loyalty in customers who start at the entry level and work their way up the lineup.

The GS has always been a terrible seller. The IS is better, but still not through the roof.

Killing the GS makes sense.

Making the IS their entry model would be a good move.

The good selling ES--like the A4/6/7--is a a front-wheel-drive design and it is well suited to luxury.

I'd do a more "style-forward" coupesedan version of the ES so as to have an in-between model (i.e. in between the ES and the LS). That model could be done in hybrid and EV forms to be a Tesla alternative.

Like it or not, crossovers are the ticket.

Since the Lexless front end is so vulnerable and fragile, I wonder how much insurance coverage cost is increased to Lexless owners to cover that design flaw?

The premise that losing the GS will be a boon to the 5 Series is pretty laughable.

If anything vehicles like the Genesis G80 and Lincoln Continental will take up the paltry slack left by the GS.

If Cadillac redid the XTS with formal/bold styling and called it a Seville, it would have more appeal.

Like it or not, sport sedans are losing traction in the market.

You think Cadillac should go back to using the name Seville? Hey, maybe they could also say it has rich Corinthian leather in the interior.

Given that the ATS, CTS, and CT6 are all sales disasters, yes. Seville is better than CT6.

Market research shows that people don't know--for example--what a CT6 is, but they ARE aware of the Continental.

Among the dealers, there is considerable pressure being focused on Cadillac to go back to names and use heritage (Seville...) and new (Escala...Elmiraj) model names.

The Continental got a name and not MKS partially because the dealers are fed up with the alphabet soup names.

I don't understand what you people are talking about. Most of you must not be from the NYC area. There are GS's all over the place here in NYC. As far as looks go, I feel that the GS has always been one the better looking cars of the Lexus line up and this goes all the way back to the 90s, the diamond headlights! That model is still a classic. Lexus had done a 360 in their image in the recent years. They have gone from a conservative safety concious image to an aggressive/sporty one, which I for one am glad about. The GS just checks all the right boxes. So killing off the GS would be a huge mistake. Yes, they don't sell well and I believe that's because of the price. They should lower the price a little in that regard.

If Lexus has "done a 360" are they back to where they started?

the GS was a nice looking car when it first came out years ago. It was a little more distinct and had a overall nice appeal. Now it is just stuck in a line up of weird looking cars with bulky cladding, no distinction in shape and overall lost in a sea of craziness from LEXUS. Redefine it or dump it.

Even without the Lexus GS, BMW still faces plenty of very stiff competition from Mercedes-Benz's E-Class and Audi's A6. Say what you will about Mercedes-Benz's decision to make the E-Class a 4-cylinder unless a buyer opts for an AMG variant, but the car still sells very well.

Audi's A6 is also a popular choice. The next A6 will be endowed with Audi's Virtual Cockpit and sleek interior.

The A6 does not sell that much better than the terrible selling GS. The E Class easily sells 3X and then some of the volume of either the A6 or the GS. If anything the A6 is the Camry of medium German sedans...dull and uninteresting.