Lexus GS officially ends production

[Backslack]

Lexus Launches GS Black Line, But The End Is Nigh For The Sedan

The GS gets a Black Line special edition with lots of gloss black trim. Plus, it comes with two pieces of custom luggage.

www.motor1.com

As a GS owner, this is pretty bittersweet, but the writing was on the wall. One less competitor for the new G80.

 

[carguy75]

The Lexus GS is a nice car especially the V8 powered GS F models. However, the GS is very expensive($54k-$80k) while not being very attractive or a must have over even the less expensive Genesis G80 models. I like the GS F models, but I am not willing to pay the premium price to own it. Therefore, I am not surprised that Lexus is dropping the model due to lack luster sales. Too many similar less expensive options are available now like the G80 to justify paying $80k for a V8 powered sedan or $54k for a 300hp V6.

If I were Lexus I would try lowering the price point of the GS first to the $38k-$65k range and see if the model gain some traction in sales before ending production.

 

[Backslack]

If I were Lexus I would try lowering the price point of the GS first to the $38k-$65k range and see if the model gain some traction in sales before ending production.

Unfortunately, that's where the ES sits price-wise (up to $55K anyway). And I think what killed the GS, more than any of its other RWD competitors, was its own brand sister ES. Dealers would no doubt have a hard time justifying a more expensive, dated, cramped vehicle with worse fuel economy simply because it has RWD driving dynamics to a non-enthusiast crowd. And the sales numbers reflect that.

The GS-F was a cool performance variant attempt (which I don't consider the G80 5.0 to be), but I agree that pricetag was unreasonable for the mid-tier performance relative to even a cheaper CTS-V.

 

[StarPower]

I've always liked the GS and I'm sad to see it go, but I'm not surprised. The GS was the only car on my list that I didn't drive before I bought the Genesis. The dealership only had one that was sitting on a pedestal in the showroom, and I wasn't going to ask them to take to down for a test drive. I was already pretty much set on the Genesis, and I doubt I would have liked the GS enough to pay the price premium over the Genesis.

I believe the GS and IS share a platform. I wonder if Lexus will discontinue the IS soon, too.

 

[YEH]

Like for the LS460, Toyota is extending the current IS lifecycle with another (2nd) refresh (but no powertrain upgrades aside from the return of the V8 IS-F).

Rumor is that if there is a next gen IS, that it will use Mazda's upcoming RWD platform, as well as Mazda's straight-6.