Lexus USA Announces Limited Edition LC Inspiration Series Coupe

krew

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Limited to 100 units, painted in exclusive Structural Blue.
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ssun30

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This is also known as the Inspiration Series in North America. The official name of the color is Structural Blue.

IT SUCKS that this car is only available as the uninspiring 500h in China. They can totally take the 40% displacement tax hit on the 500 and sell it at ¥1.8M and nobody will care. It will sell out.

If Ford can sell a 5.0 Mustang here there's no excuse for Lexus to not sell their V8s.
 

amoschen7

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This is also known as the Inspiration Series in North America. The official name of the color is Structural Blue.

IT SUCKS that this car is only available as the uninspiring 500h in China. They can totally take the 40% displacement tax hit on the 500 and sell it at ¥1.8M and nobody will care. It will sell out.

If Ford can sell a 5.0 Mustang here there's no excuse for Lexus to not sell their V8s.
I’m still betting on Lexus China to announce a 3.0T version in LC and LS mid cycle refresh. Fingers crossed.
 

ssun30

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I’m still betting on Lexus China to announce a 3.0T version in LC and LS mid cycle refresh. Fingers crossed.

Having 3.5s instead of 3.0Ts is hurting them big time in the high end. I was extremely disappointed when I saw the V35A-FTS which is yet another 3.5 that gets a big displacement tax hit.
 

amoschen7

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Having 3.5s instead of 3.0Ts is hurting them big time in the high end. I was extremely disappointed when I saw the V35A-FTS which is yet another 3.5 that gets a big displacement tax hit.
Same here. But I believe the difference is 12% in tax? Which is not so bad for a luxury car? I mean...last LS was 4.6L
 

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Maybe Lexus starts bringing in bigger displacement engines with the reduction in the import tariff?
 

ssun30

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Maybe Lexus starts bringing in bigger displacement engines with the reduction in the import tariff?

Not going to happen. Way too punishing. Maybe their plan was to not import anything with more than 400hp from the beginning. That market (not counting super cars) is quite small and three models (M3, C63, and Mustang) are enough to over-saturate it already.

The LX570 is doing the LX's thing: being the rich people's off-road toy. Their buyers don't give a fudge about its displacement and MPG. But everything else in their lineup aren't so lucky.

Same here. But I believe the difference is 12% in tax? Which is not so bad for a luxury car? I mean...last LS was 4.6L

The LS460 starts at ¥1.5M and barely sells triple digits (outsold by the S-Class 10-to-1). So I'd say it is very very bad for a luxury car. The lack of an engine update to the 4LS ruined the marque in China. The LS400s were quite popular, considered to be the second most prestigious car after the S-Class in the 90s/00s. But then the 4LS got completely screwed by the displacement tax while 3.0T-equipped German sedans became very affordable. The ES was almost screwed when the 350 was axed, but they responded quickly with the 200 and it came back to the top in just three years.

The lack of engine updates in the early 2010s impacted Lexus in many markets, but China is where they were hit the most. They should have their own 2.0T, 3.0T, and 4.0Ts ready to go but they were stuck with 2007 engines that are taking massive penalties. In the end they still managed to break sales record year after year with these outdated engines, but we all know that volume comes at the cost of profitability. They now have close to zero presence in the high end and majority of the sales are the ES200 and NX200. These are low quality sales.

Now the 5LS needs to fight an uphill battle to even surpass sales of the S-Class Maybach, and that is a ¥2M+ car. The 500h Executive has a better interior than the S400 'Poorman's Maybach' and is ¥600k cheaper, but the latter outsells the entire 5LS lineup 2-to-1.
 
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amoschen7

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Not going to happen. Way too punishing. Maybe their plan was to not import anything with more than 400hp from the beginning. That market (not counting super cars) is quite small and three models (M3, C63, and Mustang) are enough to over-saturate it already.



The LS460 starts at ¥1.5M and barely sells triple digits (outsold by the S-Class 10-to-1). So I'd say it is very very bad for a luxury car. The lack of an engine update to the 4LS ruined the marque in China. The LS400s were quite popular, considered to be the second most prestigious car after the S-Class in the 90s/00s. But then the 4LS got completely screwed by the displacement tax while 3.0T-equipped German sedans became very affordable. The ES was almost screwed when the 350 was axed, but they responded quickly with the 200 and it came back to the top in just three years.

The lack of engine updates in the early 2010s impacted Lexus in many markets, but China is where they were hit the most. They should have their own 2.0T, 3.0T, and 4.0Ts ready to go but they were stuck with 2007 engines that are taking massive penalties. In the end they still managed to break sales record year after year with these outdated engines, but we all know that volume comes at the cost of profitability. They now have close to zero presence in the high end and majority of the sales are the ES200 and NX200. These are low quality sales.

Now the 5LS needs to fight an uphill battle to even surpass sales of the S-Class Maybach, and that is a ¥2M car.
Yes you are right about that part of the history. But my point is right now they do not import the 3.5T LS is suspicious. It has the same level of import tax as the 3.5L model. So I think the only logical reasoning is that they will make a 3.0T or 2.5T model in the future.
 

ssun30

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Yes you are right about that part of the history. But my point is right now they do not import the 3.5T LS is suspicious. It has the same level of import tax as the 3.5L model. So I think the only logical reasoning is that they will make a 3.0T or 2.5T model in the future.

No, that part of the history is important because the LS will not return to the ¥1.2M+ market, which is what the 3.5T will bring it to. They will sell like 40 per month so they didn't bother. The hypothetical presence of a 3.0T/2.5T is not what caused the 3.5T to not be imported.

Also, given their track record, I don't see a 3.0T/2.5T replacing the LS350 until 5.5LS facelift.