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I guess it just follows on the current tendency to send out information in dribs and drabs on new car models, rather than one big blast of information. This isn't totally random, BTW. After the LS 500 debut in Detroit, the LS 500h debut in Geneva and the all-too-quiet LS 350 debut at the Shenzhen-Hong Kong-Macao International Auto Show in China, today marks the 5LS debut on Japanese soil (press preview, not on-sale).This is really impressive stuff... I wish they'd debuted this tech, or at least talked about it, at the LS' launch in Detroit.
...and, just as I was expecting, Forbes contributor (and sometime Kaizen Factor Asia editor Bertel Schmitt) attended the Japanese debut of Lexus' 5LS. Here are some highlights of his Forbes account:... today marks the 5LS debut on Japanese soil (press preview, not on-sale).
... Officially, today’s event was about the launch of the new Lexus LS flagship sedan in Japan. Japan is an export country, and increasingly, Japan’s newest cars are shown at home long after they have been introduced to the world, as it was the case today. Wisely, Lexus made today’s event a showcase of advanced safety technology.
“The LS is designed to be the top runner in advanced safety technologies” said Lexus LS Chief Engineer Toshio Asahi. Toyota’s Chief Safety Technology Officer Kiyotaka Ise did him one better by calling the LS “the safest car in the world.”
The LS does that with a host of active safety technologies. A sensor array, including front and back millimeter radar, gives the car 360 degree acuity. It does not only recognize other cars, but also cyclists, pedestrians, even children. The millimeter radar is an enhanced version of what is available in other Lexus and Toyota cars, Toyota's chief of Intelligent Vehicle Development, Ken Koibuchi, told me at the sidelines of the event. An advanced 3D radar remains in development, Koibuchi said.
...Despite the fact that the LS comes with all the technology other OEMs would call “autonomous,” Ise said that Toyota “does not wish to call this LS an automated driving vehicle, rather, we would like to define it as a vehicle equipped with advanced driver assist technologies that can pave the way toward autonomous driving.”
...Most of the technology in the LS will filter down very quickly to all other Toyota models. “Most of the advanced systems will be installed on all Lexus and Toyota Models starting in 2018,” Ise said.
Toyota’s wary terminology and cautious approach do not mean that it is behind in autonomous drive technology. By 2020, Toyota plans on autonomous driving toll booth to toll booth, and by the middle of the next decade in cities.
This is really impressive stuff... I wish they'd debuted this tech, or at least talked about it, at the LS' launch in Detroit.
I'm still in a little bit of shock about this announcement: who would've guessed that Toyota/Lexus would be second after Tesla to actually ship an exit-to-exit highway autonomy system? That said, that and the other parts of this announcement are very welcome and further the LS's status as a true flagship.
spwolf: I'm familiar with Tesla's foibles; I did some investigation on them and have now removed them from my "serious test drives" list (I might yet sign up for one just to feel the vaunted acceleration).
I'm still in a little bit of shock about this announcement: who would've guessed that Toyota/Lexus would be second after Tesla to actually ship an exit-to-exit highway autonomy system?
I'm not even concerned with the tech problems. I'm more interested in things like heated/cooled seats no longer being available. And the completely crazy factory defects buyers are reporting all over the world, like cars coming from the factory with the frame bent or other damage to the frame rails, panel gaps you can drive a GS-F through, murky/chipped paint, and seats where the leather isn't properly stitched on. It's an LS-priced car that doesn't meet the fit and finish standards of a Yaris.
Exactly as I was expecting, the really deep and juicy details of the 5LS are only coming to us in very slow drips. For Lexus fans that have waited quite a few years for the 5LS, it's mentally agonizing and tormenting. However I know why Toyota is doing this, but that doesn't change things for Lexus fans.
In a sense, I know why they do this: to have something new to talk about.
I'm not even concerned with the tech problems. I'm more interested in things like heated/cooled seats no longer being available. And the completely crazy factory defects buyers are reporting all over the world, like cars coming from the factory with the frame bent or other damage to the frame rails, panel gaps you can drive a GS-F through, murky/chipped paint, and seats where the leather isn't properly stitched on. It's an LS-priced car that doesn't meet the fit and finish standards of a Yaris.