I have a feeling this one is going to be one of the longer generations potentially.
So I was getting my car serviced today at a Lexus service center (Dubai, UAE). To kill time, I went to the showroom and asked the sales team for a test drive for the LS. Since it has not been selling well, they do not have any testers or any stock for that matter, and I was told the only way to drive one is to custom order one 🤨.
I mentioned this to my service advisor when collecting my own car, and he casually remarked, and I paraphrase, "why are you looking at the LS...this car's been a flop, and I was like yeah, the V6 engine and blaa blaa...and he as like yeah, just wait another year for the new one...!
And I was intrigued! I decided to dig deeper...so I asked him to clarify, and if he meant that there is going to be a major
refresh to the current gen car, just like the refresh for the IS. He was like, no no, totally new.
I asked if the new LS will be a BEV, or Hybrid or will it have an ICE as well (going by the speculation on this forum)? He didn't seem so sure. I again asked if it is a BEV, and then he mentioned that the Lexus RnD is pretty strong (not sure what he meant) and that the results/assessment from the local market are very relevant and are always addressed... So I asked he meant the RZ is being tested here, and he commented that yeah it's been happening for 2 years. Okay so no surprise that RZ is being tested here, but my question was about a BEV LS, so maybe he mixed up a few things?
Wait, there is more! I asked if next year means 2025 or 2024...and he was certain that something will be
announced in Oct 2023...and I was like yeah yeah Lexus always makes major announcements in Oct. and he goes, EXACTLY (not sure, but DO THEY really announce stuff in OCT or is my memory playing tricks?).
Lastly I asked him how does he know and if he was sure about this? I mentioned that online forums think the car will stay in the current form for a longer cycle, like the previous gen LS. His reply was that the online forums only get to know very late, once the vehicle is in production. And then he points to his screen and says that hes seen some production schedules or some relevant info from the factory and that is why he is sure of the Oct 2023 announcement period.
In summary, the Lexus Service Advisor claims with a high confidence level that there will be a new next gen LS announced in October 2023 and that anyone looking to buy the current LS should hold off!
I hope someone else can corroborate this?!