if they cancel LC convertible that would be the second time they've made the exact same mistake in product planning. Something really bad is going on behind the curtain inside Lexus. It has nothing to do with passenger cars or coupes taking the hit on the market, just ask Mercedes and BMW about sedans or Audi about coupes. Current IS doesn't have the shelf life for whole 7 years unfortunately, RC was hindered from the get go, GS is all done and gone and I'm afraid revenge of the bean counters will result in complete dismissal of GA-L as go to platform. Current IS will hurt new IS pretty badly just like how previous LS has hurt new LS as customers have already left and they are not looking back. GS people have left long time ago, heck even SC people have left during hiatus between SC and LC.
Combination of poor product planning, delivery, product gaps and technology deficit such as PUs have left premium side of Lexus in dire straits. They are now relying too much on their discount luxury RX and ES models which offer more for way less and that is not good in long term, that's exactly how you downscale to Acura. I find NX to be a magnificent case of applying the RX/ES formula in product design/development but when it comes to pricing or value it doesn't go that extreme as RX/ES go because there is no room to wiggle and it definitely reflects in sales. Yes it's selling well but in it's fourth year it's numbers are falling behind competition and that's something that has never happened to RX (It does happen to ES when compared to E-class and 5er)
Pretty much post of the year, summarizing Lexus' strategy over the last decade. There is something that is not "connecting" at Lexus - maybe it is profit to the bottom line, I'm not sure.
Every brand has segments where they succeed - BMW with the 3, Mercedes with the S, Audi with the Q5, etc - but they don't stop selling everything else, pack up and go home when they can't hit volume targets with their other vehicles. The difference? BMW, Mercedes and Audi have invested much more in premium RWD/AWD platforms and powertrain technology so sharing hardware between everything from a volume 3 series to a flagship X7 means they can spread R&D costs around the lineup and make a better (internal) value proposition for low volume models. If the LS shared a platform with the RX, nobody would secretly be worried about the future of Lexus' flagship sedan.
Most of Lexus' ecosystem is tied to front wheel drive Toyota products, so that allows for a cost advantage but is a heavily compromised "luxury" car. Lexus has to carve out their own budget for engines, transmissions, platforms and technology that can live outside of the mainstream Toyota ecosystem, and it seems that budget has only gotten smaller. I've made this point repeatedly over the years, but if Lexus used a premium RWD architecture - like GA-L - for LS, LC, ES/GS, IS, RC, RX and "LQ/LF-1," it would revolutionize Lexus. This should have been how GA-L was handled, but it seems like that platform will be reserved for LS, LC, LF-1 and IS. The problem here is that the first three are low volume flagship products, and there is the volume IS but it's in a struggling sedan market. It's not hard to see Lexus deeming this limited-return investment not being worth their while in a future state.
I have actually started to envision a future for Lexus that is similar to Infiniti - no more RWD products, and they will move to electrification to power the rear axle, creating a lineup that is all FWD or AWD. There is some merit to this - it's not a bad strategy.
The biggest problem is not the product but these massive gaps in product planning - ten years for LS, ten years for GX, seven years+ for IS, ten years for LX. It sets shoppers up to be disappointed when they have waiting for so long - their anticipation and excitement builds - and then Lexus delivers a product that is fundamentally different or doesn't seem like as much of an improvement as they expected. Let's be frank: Lexus hasn't really been living up to the hype, or quite frankly, their own history lately. If LS had blown us away, I'd say all of these delays were worth it, but looking at that car, RC refresh, rumors of IS delays, no firm news on LX... it just seems like Lexus is trying to figure out how to do more with less, and that's not a premium strategy at all.